Mladic returns to custody after stint in hospital.

Ratko Mladic. (Source: Archives / AFP)

Former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic has returned to detention at The Hague after hospital examinations declared that he required no further treatment.

Mladic, 70, facing a series of charges related to the mid-1990's war in Bosnia, including genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo, was rushed to hospital on Thursday morning after falling ill in court.

Spokeswoman for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Nerma Jelacic, announced in a statement that Mladic's health scare was not as serious as first thought.

"Ratko Mladic has returned to the detention unit after medical examinations confirmed there were no abnormalities in his health status and that no treatment is required," Jelacic's statement read. "The previous determination that Mladic is fit to stand trial therefore remains unchanged."

It is not the first time Mladic has had issues with his health since his arrest last year. A hernia operation, as well as treatment for other ailments including a kidney stone and pneumonia, are among a number of medical-related problems that have halted the former war-time leader's trial considerably.

Mladic's health issues draw a similar resemblance to the case of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who died in a Dutch prison cell in 2006 while also on trial at the ICTY.

Milosevic's case dragged on for four years - mostly due to his own ill health reportedly holding up proceedings - before the trial had to be aborted because of his death.

Prosecutors and relatives of victims fear Mladic may also die before facing justice.

The leader of a group that represents the family members of some of the 8,000 Bosnian Muslims killed in the Srebrenica massacre said she hoped Mladic would survive.

"We wish him a good recovery. We pray to God that he gets well because if he dies, justice will die with him and the victims will be betrayed again," said Munira Subasic, the head of the Mothers of Srebrenica group. "We need him to be convicted. We need it for our own history. We do not want the Milosevic situation to be repeated."

Mladic's trial is expected to resume on Monday.

Photo of the day (SFF)

The streets of downtown Sarajevo are packed on Friday evening as the Sarajevo Film Festival nears to an end.

(Source: Klix.ba)

The event has attracted many Hollywood "A-Listers" (depending on who you ask...) to town including Angelina Jolie and Jeremy Irons.

Photo of the day.

Something a bit light-hearted after the strong posts of the last few days...

Something I saw last week while in the change-rooms of a clothing store in central Sarajevo!

Translates into something like this in English:

"Perfect! I must have it!"                                                         "Maybe I will have it"


"I don't feel comfortable"                                                        "Wrong size, I need a new one"

Click on photo to zoom in!

Good to see a bit of sense of humour around sometimes :)

No words...

Different take on Srebrenica

An interesting opinion/food-for-thought about Srebrenica, and the ways in which people 'help'.
This post by Izet Sabic was published on Zenicablog.com on Monday.
Again, here is the version in English.
What do you think?

(Source: Zenicablog)

We are closer to the 11th of July. The day when the general public of our beautiful Bosnia and Herzegovina remembers Srebrenica. The day when many express their support for the Srebrenica people. I would say everyone, but then I would by lieing. Although in this country that would not be something awful. We are accustomed to being lied to, for years. But, back to Srebrenica. Do you feel sorry for those people in Srebrenica? I do. I am sorry about the institutions, politicians, media, and unfortunately, in the end, the people, who are showing mighty hypocrisy to the people of Srebrenica and the inhabitants of that city, whether they are dead or alive. All of them remember the 11th of July just a few days before. All express their support. They are organising peace marches, broadcasting Srebrenica on TV, politicians tell you nice and convenient words and people change their pictures on social networks. They even appeal not to play music on these networks on July 11, to demonstrate support for these people. These days, everyone has something to say about Srebrenica, some photo to share, some status to write, and perhaps to support some opinion.

Of course, we also have another side. We have people who deny the genocide, who are doing everything possible to make life even more bitter to these people. We are not expecting anything else from them. I am wondering to myself what we have done for Srebrenica? What have we done to these people to make their life less bitter? About the sweetness of life, we shouldn't even mention, for them it is long forgotten. Do you think that people who can barely make ends meet really care whether you publish a song on your profile or not? Do you think that the people who live in houses full of moisture, who bathe themselves in troughs, care about who comes up with some sort of jokes? We invite you to not forget the suffering of Srebrenica and the Srebrenica people on the 11th of July, only to forget their suffering during the other 364 days, and in the meantime. Many will arrive in Srebrenica on that date to show their support for these people.


Everyone will then go away. Politicians, media, military, religious officials, and the people themselves. Even young people who are healthy, capable and able, went to seek their fortune in some other places. The older people will not. Their heart is pulling them to their homeland, to their fireplace. For them, life is only in this place, no matter how difficult it is. And it's difficult. Very difficult. Imagine how life is when you are crying in front of the cameras, because you don't have anything to live off, because your own son is attacking and yelling at you because his nerves were destroyed from the war, when you are living in a house with that much moisture you almost can't breathe, that you have to take a whole bag of medicines.. Many of us couldn't drink the amount of water that is necessary to drink those medicines, even in the summer heat, let alone to live that way. I don't want someone to misunderstand me, I don't have anything against the peace march, nor any other expression of support for Srebrenica mentioned in the text, and it's good to have people who care about it, I just think that it is not enough to remember Srebrenica that day or that week.


I ask all citizens who do not want to forget Srebrenica, to not forget it. To remember Srebrenica for the entire 365 days, and not just that week. To come back in three months, in six months and in nine. To come with an aid package and donations for these people who live far away from the public eye. Don't allow Srebrenica to be a political tool to us, and make the 11th of July a day where we wash our conscience and say that we are with Srebrenica and its victims, and that we will never forget them. They need far more, far more than the actual help of a few good people, they need help from all of us. Now lets prove that we have not forgotten Srebrenica, lets prove that we are good people, lets prove that their loved ones are not gone in vain, and help these people!


~ Izet Sabic.

Srebrenica poem.

Some beautiful, strong words I discovered on the Internet a few days ago to accompany this heart-breaking image.
Original text in Bosnian, now translated to English (with a lot of help from my partner).

(Source: Pasaluk.blogger.ba)

Why is there no you here........


Salam Alaikum, my sons

Here is your mum next to your graves

I sat between you two, so I can reach you with my hands, and so not one of you is mad, because I am carressing one, while the other is watching

I put my hands on the ground that is covering you, and I am cuddling the grass that has grown over it

Exactly like I was cuddling your hair while you were alive

I'm looking at your tombstones, and the writing of your names and the years when you left this world

My young (flower) buds, mother wasn't gifted what she was waiting for, to sing together with you, and to look forward to my daughter-in-law's

Last night I lay down but I couldn't fall asleep, the damned devil couldn't calm down, so he was always interrupting me while I was awake dreaming

And I was dreaming the most beautiful dream

I was dreaming, my son, how I'm waiting for your wedding party, how I'm kissing the bride, how in my hands I'm holding the Kuran and pogaca, and how you are carrying your wives into your home

I was dreaming, with my eyes open, how I have granddaughters

Five of them

Ah, don't be surprised because I didn't dream about even one male child

Mother can't imagine anymore to raise a male next to her heart

Mother can't stand, my son, to again see how the enemy positions the men into columns

If it happens again, and please God don't let it, at least I have hope that their mothers won't tear the arms from their shoulders holding onto their son, as he is stolen away.

Countdown to the 17th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide continues.

The countdown continues to Wednesday which marks 17 years since the beginning of the Srebrenica massacre.

Participants of the "Peace March" from Nezuk
to Potocari, near Srebrenica.
(Source: Fotoservis)

As this is the first, and perhaps only, time I will experience an 11th of July in Bosnia, it has been interesting and, somewhat, eye-opening to experience first-hand how this country commemorates this terrible event.

In the past few days, the news has reported several actions, including peace marches and marathons, across several parts of Europe, including Croatia and Turkey.

One, in particular, is a "Marsa Mira", or "Peace March", involving 130 people making the 110-kilometre trek from Nezuk all the way to Potacari, the memorial centre dedicated to the 8000-plus victims of the massacre in Srebrenica.

Participants in the march include people from Sarajevo, Mostar, Zepa, as well as some from Turkey, while one participant is a 70-year-old. Once the marchers arrive in Potocari, they will join more than 30,000 others - including survivors and families of the deceased - watching on as 520 newly-identified bodies are buried.

The bodies will lay in the ground next to 5,137 other victims of the Srebrenica killings - who have been buried at Potocari over the previous 11 collective funerals.

Today, several trucks carrying the remains of the 520 bodies drove through the capital, Sarajevo, causing emotional scenes.

Here are some photos of the "Marsa Mira", as well as from today in Sarajevo:

(Sources: Beta)

(Sources: Klix.ba)

NEVER FORGET SREBRENICA!