The appeal hearings of former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, sentenced to life in prison for numerous war crimes, will be postponed until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Hague-based International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said.

Due to his age, Mladic belongs to the group most at risk and he is currently also recovering from surgery, it said.

Another reason is that some of the judges involved are currently not able to travel due to the measures countries across the world introduced to contain the virus. At least four of the judges would have to travel through “high-risk territory” and once they arrive they would have to be quarantined for 14 days, the court said.

Mladic’s appeal procedure was already postponed once. It was supposed to begin in March but the former Bosnian Serb general had to undergo surgery. The process was supposed to begin on June 16 and 17.

The Court sentenced Mladic for a number of crimes committed in Bosnia during the 1992-1995 war, including the Srebrenica Genocide.