Marcus Jones, the Nuneaton MP who in 2009 undertook voluntary work in Bosnia on a mercy mission, has welcomed the arrest of Serbian warlord Ratko Mladic, accused of ordering the murder of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys. Mladic had been on the run since 1995.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, called the capture of Mladic ‘excellent news’. In 2009, Marcus spent a week in Bosnia which he called “challenging, both physically and mentally” and gained real knowledge into a “truly horrific situation.” Following his visit to Bosnia, Marcus said he would never forget some of the stories he was told by those left behind after the conflict that tore the country apart following the collapse for the former Yugoslavia. The arrest of Ratko Mladic brought back memories for the town’s MP.
Commenting on the arrest, Marcus said: “The arrest of Ratko Mladic should not be underestimated. He might be ageing now but he stands accused of heinous crimes against humanity and the cold-blooded murder of thousands innocent children and men.
“It was an honour to spend time in Bosnia. I went to Potocari, where there is a memorial to the Srebrenica genocide victims and which is the site of an old battery factory where the Dutch United Nations soldiers were based and where there was mass slaughter. This was a poignant part of what an emotional, eye-opening visit.
“I recall listening to the narrative given by the guide as I stood in front of the memorial which was inscribed with over 8,000 names. They belonged to men and boys who had just been wiped out. There were names of boys as young as 12 right through to men in their 70s. Behind the memorial was a graveyard with simple headstones as far as the eye could see. They all had one thing in common – the date of death, 1995. It left me feeling quite cold to think that this has happened in Europe less than 20 years before.
“When I heard of Mladic’s arrest the memories of Srebrenica came flooding back. I hope his capture will help to heal the wounds of a country that is still perilously fragile after war.”