Mladic can be transferred to The Hague, rules Serbian judge

A Serbian judge has ruled that former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic is fit to stand trial and could be extradited to a UN court to face charges of genocide.

Reuters

"It has been established that Ratko Mladic's health condition makes him fit to stand trial... we have we have decided the conditions for transfer have been met," Judge Maja Kovacevic told reporters outside Serbia's special war crimes court.

Mladic, who is accused of multiple war crimes, was captured after a 16-year hunt on Thursday.

Mladic's lawyer, Milos Saljic, earlier claimed that his client was unable to answer simple questions because he was suffering from "a difficult psychological and physical condition".

And, after visiting his father, Mladic's son, Darko, inisisted that his father was innocent and not in a fit state to be transferred to the The Hague.

The family will ask for an independent medical examination, possibly by Russian doctors, he said.

According to Darko, Mladic has had a medical check-up including an electrocardiogram heart test and a brain scan.

"The scan showed two scars from cerebral haemorraghes," the son said.