BAN / MLADIC ARREST

United Nations officials today welcomed the arrest of Serbian war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, long sought for his role in the atrocities committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, hailing it as an important step in the fight against impunity. UNESCO/FILE

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:50
• Production Date: 26 May 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION - UNESCO
• Subject Topical: CRIMES; CRIMINAL JUSTICE
• Geographic Subject: SERBIA
• MAMS Id: U110526a

Description

STORY: BAN / MLADIC ARREST
TRT: 1.50
SOURCE: UNESCO / ICTY
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 26 MAY 2011, PARIS, FRANCE / ICTY FILE

Shotlist

26 MAY 2011, PARIS, FRANCE

1. Med shot Ban Ki-moon arrives to the UNESCO headquarters and is greeted by Director-General Irina Bokova
2. Med shot, Ban and Irina walking on a Hallway
3. Wide shot, audience at an auditorium
4. Various shots, Irina Bokova introduced Ban Ki-moon
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Please let me say some words before I begin about the news about the arrest of Ratko Mladic. This is a historic day for international justice. This arrest marks an important step in our collective fight to end impunity as well as for the work of the ICTY. I commend the effort of President Tadic and the Serbian government. Thank you very much.”

FILE - ICTY (DATE UNKNOWN) UN DETENTION UNIT, HAAGLANDEN, LOCATION SCHEVENINGEN, NETHERLANDS

6. Various shots, UN Detention Unit

Storyline

After nearly 16 years as a fugitive from justice, Ratko Mladic was arrested today, charged with genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the atrocities committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.

Mladic is awaiting transfer to The Hague, where he will stand trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

He faces numerous charges, including genocide, extermination, murder, persecutions, deportation, taking of hostages and inflicting terror on civilians, particularly in connection with massacre of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the supposedly “safe haven” of Srebrenica in July 1995 in one of the most notorious events of the Balkan wars.

“This is a historic day for international justice,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today during an event at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. “This arrest marks an important step in our collective fight against impunity as well as for the work of the ICTY.”

He commended President Boris Tadic and the Serbian authorities for their efforts in apprehending Mr. Mladic.

The Prosecutor of the ICTY, Serge Brammertz highlighted the significant impact of today’s arrest for international justice. He noted in a statement that the arrest showed that people responsible for grave violations of international humanitarian law could no longer count on impunity.

The ICTY was tasked by the Security Council with trying those responsible for the worst war crimes and other breaches of international humanitarian law committed during the various conflicts in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

With the arrest of Mr. Mladic, only one indictee – Goran Hadžic – now remains at large.