Serbian EU hopes helped in Mladic arrest-prosecutor

The chief prosecutor at the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal said Serbia’s hopes of gaining European Union membership were very important in securing the arrest of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic.

Serge Brammertz also said he had asked Serbia to explain how Mladic had managed to elude arrest in recent years.

“We want to verify who over the past five years have been instrumental in helping Mladic to stay in hiding and we want them to be accountable,” Brammertz told a news conference.

Court registrar John Hocking, addressing concern over Mladic’s health, said no health problems prevented Mladic’s admission to the court’s detention unit.