'Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko Mladic dies in UN prison while serving life sentence for genocide
Mladic was serving a life sentence for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in which 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys were rounded up and executed
Ratko Mladic, 84, has died in the UN detention center in The Hague after suffering multiple strokes on Thursday.
Mladic, 'the Butcher of Bosnia,' was serving a life sentence for genocide during the 1992–95 Bosnian War. Mladic was convicted for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in which 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys were rounded up and executed.
Mladic led the Army of Republika Srpska, the Bosnian Serb military, during the Yugoslav Wars. He was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 1995.
Although formally a fugitive, Mladic was able to stay in Serbian military facilities until the overthrow of his ally Slobodan Milosevic in 2001.
After losing the support of the Serbian government, Mladic went on the run but remained mobile, being seen in Moscow and Thessaloniki.
By 2007, the newly elected Serbian government decided to pursue Mladic and the remaining Yugoslav war criminals. It would not be until 2011 that Mladic was finally arrested and handed over to The Hague.
The trial began within five days of his capture. The trial lasted until 2017, when he was convicted on 10 charges and sentenced to life. The charges included one count of genocide, five counts of crimes against humanity, and four counts of violations of the laws or customs of war. He was also cleared on one count of genocide.
As the commander responsible for Bosnian Serb forces, Mladic was held responsible for both the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre, which led to the deaths of nearly 20,000 people combined. His appeals were rejected after a three-year process.