Mladic wants strawberries, Russian literature

BELGRADE–Ratko Mladic, who was arrested in Serbia after 16 years on the run, has asked for strawberries and Russian literature to be brought to his cell, a source in Serbia’s war crimes court said Friday.

The man known as “the Butcher of the Balkans” has also told court officials that he would like to visit the grave of his daughter Ana, who committed suicide in 1994 at the age of 23 and was buried in a Belgrade cemetery.

The former Bosnian Serb army chief asked the court for “books from (Russian literary greats) Turgenev, Tolstoy and Gogol” to be brought to his cell as well as “a television set and strawberries”, a court source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP.

“He expressed the wish to visit his daughter’s grave,” he added.

Mladic, who stands accused of masterminding the 44-month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, was arrested in Serbia Thursday.

He is currently detained in a special cell in Serbia’s war crimes court while the procedure to transfer him to the UN court in The Hague is underway.