Mladic taunts survivors at start of genocide trial

[cali]

THE HAGUE | Wed May 16, 2012 6:24am EDT

(Reuters) - Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic taunted Srebrenica survivors on Wednesday at the start of his trial for genocide, running his hand across his throat in a gesture of defiance to relatives of the worst massacre in Europe since World War Two.

Mladic, now 70, flashed a thumbs-up and clapped his hands as he entered the courtroom in The Hague, where he faces possible life imprisonment for allegedly leading the slaughter of 8,000 unarmed Muslim boys and men in Srebrenica in 1995.

In the packed public seating area, a mother of one of the Srebrenica victims whispered "vulture" several times as prosecutors opened their case.

Later, Mladic made eye contact with one of the Muslim women in the audience, running a hand across his throat, in a gesture that led Presiding judge Alphons Orie to hold a brief recess and order an end to "inappropriate interactions."

Wearing a dark suit and tie, he sat, spectacles in hand, listening intently and jotting notes as prosecutors made their opening remarks.

<snip>

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/16/us-warcrimes-mladic-idUSBRE84F08P20120516?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71

[catbyte]

1. What a scumbag. I hope he rots in prison

Diane
Anishinaabe in MI & mom to Leo, Sophie, Taz & Nigel, members of Dogs Against Romney, Cat Division
"We ride inside--HISS!”

[redgreenandblue]

2. When is Cheney's trial?

[cali]

5. probably never. Should no other war criminal be prosecuted because Cheney isn't?

[redgreenandblue]

7. They should, but as long as war crime trials are for second and third world only, the whole concept

of a war crimes court becomes an instrument of power rather than of justice.

[gratuitous]

3. A trial . . . how quaint

I remember when the United States used to trust its justice system to try and convict war criminals and the like. Now? We are far more likely to use the methods of Mladic, adjusted for our greater military and technological prowess.

[cali]

4. when was that? I don't remember it.

[Blue_Tires]

9. Nuremberg...pretty long time since then...

But even after the convictions, many of them were given leniency later in exchange for help against the growing Soviet empire...

[qb]

6. An example of what can happen when a sociopathic man-child gets control of a country.

[Odin2005]

8. And his fellow Serbs still think this monster is a hero.