A U.N. war crimes court on Thursday rejected a bid for early release by former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic, known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," who is serving a life sentence for genocide, crimes against humanity and atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including the Srebrenica massacre.
Mladic is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, and is currently held in the U.N. detention unit in The Hague.
The general filed a motion for early release on humanitarian grounds, the court said last month, because he is in a state of "advanced, irreversible medical decline."
The court in its ruling said that Mladic is indeed in "the final stages of his life", as it called his situation "dire."
But it also said that the conditions at the detention centre ensured his maximum comfort, while the detention itself did not exacerbate the situation.
"There is no additional treatment available elsewhere that is unavailable in the Netherlands," the court concluded as it denied the request.
"Mladic continues to receive comprehensive and compassionate treatment from qualified doctors, nursing staff, and prison staff."
Mladic suffers from cognitive impairments and has been hospitalized numerous times in recent years, according to earlier court documents and hearings.
He led Bosnian Serb forces during Bosnia's war, part of the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia.
Mladic was convicted on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, including terrorising the civilian population of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, and the killing of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys taken prisoner in the eastern town of Srebrenica in 1995.
