War-time general of the Army of Republika Srpska (RS) and an indictee of the the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Ratko Mladic was transferred to the Tribunal's custody, after having been at large for almost 16 years, the ICTY said in a release on the same day.

“Mladic, who was arrested by Serbian authorities on Thursday, 26 May 2011, has been admitted to the UN Detention Unit in The Hague,” says the release, forwarded to Tanjug, which adds that Mladic will be fully examined by the Detention Unit's medical staff upon his arrival.

The release says Mladic's initial appearance before the court will be announced in due course.

“The UN Detention Unit where Mladic is detained meets the highest international standards for the treatment of detainees.

It is managed in a manner respecting the detainees' dignity and rights, and providing all the necessary conditions for the preparation of their defence,” the release informs.

Following a full medical examination by the Detention Unit's medical staff, Mladic's health will be continuously monitored and any treatment required will be provided, the ICTY said.

Mladic was transferred to the Rotterdam airport, about 20 kilometers from The Hague, by a Dassault Falcon 50, a Serbian government special plane, at about 7.35 p.m. He was taken over from there by representatives of the Dutch police, who transferred him by helicopter to the Tribunal's detention unit in Scheveningen.

The plane carrying former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic landed at Rotterdam airport on Tuesday about 7.35 pm following his transfer from Serbia to face war crimes charges in the Hague.

The altered indictment against Ratko Mladic will be submitted to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Friday.

The changed indictment was proposed by the Prosecutor's Office last year and approved by the Trial Chamber last Friday, one day after Mladic was arrested.

ICTY spokeswoman Nerma Jelacic told Tanjug that the indictment against Mladic now has 11 counts, instead of the earlier 15, including two for genocide, and the changes were for the most part made to harmonize the indictment against Mladic with the indictment against Karadzic.

When it comes to merging the indictments against Karadzic and Mladic, Jelacic said this is nothing but media speculation, as there is no such motion before the court.

According to her, the number of crimes Mladic is charged with has remained the same in the new indictment - around 70 events related to murders and almost 60 crime scenes such as camps and detention facilities where Muslim or Croat civilians were held.

"The indictment includes two counts of genocide. The first for the events in the first year of the war, from May 1992 to May 1993, and for the events and crimes in the cities in eastern Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), like Zvornik, Vlasenica, Visegrad, and in Bosanska Krajina - in Prijedor, Kljuc. The other count of genocide is for July 1995, for the crimes committed in Srebrenica. The remaining counts are for crimes against humanity and cover the siege of Sarajevo and crimes in several BiH municipalities," Jelacic specified.

Dacic: Mladic extradited, Serbia has fulfilled its obligations

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic confirmed Tuesday that war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic, accompanied by uniformed police, was sent to The Hague around 17.30.

He noted that it is very important that there was no major unrest in Serbia since Mladic's arrest.

Serbia has completed an important phase in its relations with the European Union and the international community. Serbia has shown a responsible approach to domestic and international obligations, Dacic told reporters.

Dacic reiterated that the Serbian security forces and action teams worked all these years to discover the location of Ratko Mladic and that he was arrested the moment he was discovered.

The minister also stressed that Serbia will continue to work to meet the only remaining obligations to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) - the arrest and extradition of Goran Hadzic.

This has hopefully eliminated the arguments that the arrest of fugitives was a barrier to Serbia's progress on its way to European integration, he said.

Serbia fulfils its obligation by handing over Mladic to ICTY

Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic stated that with the extradition of Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Serbia has fulfilled its international and moral obligation and demonstrated its commitment to cooperation with this tribunal.

Malovic said at a press conference held at the Serbian government building that bringing Mladic to justice is satisfaction for victims and their families and also an act of reconciliation in the region.

By arresting Mladic, Serbia has shown its commitment to fulfilling all its obligations to the ICTY. We have proved that we are true to our words, the Minister stated.

This is a clear message to all war crimes indictees that they will be brought to justice, she said and added that the next step is to find out who helped Mladic to hide.

This case is still open and I expect that it will be found out who helped him to hide and why the state spent enormous sums of money to search for him, Malovic pointed out and underlined that Serbia will not be a haven for war criminals and members of criminal groups.