Defence witness in Mladic case found dead

A defence witness in the genocide and war crimes case against former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic has been found dead in his hotel room in The Hague, it was announced yesterday.

Dusan Dunjic, a forensic pathologist from Belgrade, was “found dead at his hotel by a hotel staff member and a representative of the tribunal”, the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia said. “Emergency services were immediately notified and ascertained Mr Dunjic’s death.”

A spokesman for the Dutch police, Cor Spruijt, said an investigation had been launched but at this stage “we have no reason to suspect that a crime had been committed”. He declined to give further details.

Dunjic, about 65, was in The Hague to give evidence in the case against Mladic, who faces 11 charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the Bosnian war between 1992-95. He and former Bosnian Serb politician Radovan Karadžić are facing similar charges before the UN tribunal, and in particular for their roles in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the worst bloodshed on European soil since the second world war.