‘The butcher may be gone, but to many he is a hero’: victims condemn glorification of Mladić

Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb general known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," has died at the age of 84 in The Hague, Netherlands. Mladić was convicted of genocide and war crimes for his role in the 1990s wars in the former Yugoslavia, where his forces carried out atrocities including the Srebrenica massacre. He had been in custody since 2011 and was sentenced to life in prison in 2017. Under his command, Bosnian Serb troops controlled significant areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, besieged cities, and operated concentration camps where non-Serb civilians and enemy soldiers were systematically killed. Mladić never expressed remorse for his actions.

Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb general convicted of genocide and war crimes, has died in prison in The Hague at the age of 84. Mladić was a principal architect of ethnic cleansing during the Bosnian War and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 for orchestrating the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where at least 8,000 Muslims were killed. He was also responsible for the siege of Sarajevo. Mladić had been in ill health following strokes and was arrested in 2011 after 16 years as a fugitive. The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals confirmed his death and ordered an inquiry into the circumstances.

Ratko Mladic, a Bosnian Serb militia leader and war criminal, has died in prison at the age of 84. He was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the Srebrenica genocide where over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed. Mladic was also found responsible for the campaign of terror against Sarajevo's civilian population and the hostage-taking of UN peacekeepers. Known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," he commanded the Republika Srpska army and evaded arrest for nearly 16 years before being apprehended in Serbia in 2011 and transferred to The Hague for trial.

BBC special correspondent Allan Little met Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladić, known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," early in the Bosnian war. Little witnessed the ethnic cleansing occurring across the landscape, observing fires at night and armed villagers moving in shadows. He also described a procession of approximately 40,000 refugees fleeing their homes after a surprise Serb advance. One man, separated from his wife during the trek, spoke to Little about his fear for her safety. Mladić, who was responsible for actions during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, has since died in prison.

Ratko Mladić, commander of the Bosnian Serb army, led a brutal campaign of "ethnic cleansing" during the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s. He oversaw the prolonged siege of Sarajevo, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, and was responsible for the massacre of 8,000 men and boys at Srebrenica, a UN-declared safe area. Mladić pursued the goal of a "Greater Serbia" with extreme violence, committing acts of genocide and crimes against humanity alongside his political counterpart, Radovan Karadžić. He displayed no remorse for his actions, which were described as the bloodiest atrocities in Europe since World War II.

Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military chief, has died in prison at the age of 84. He was serving a life sentence in The Hague for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, notably for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where Serb forces under his command executed thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys. Mladic was the military leader of a trio that included former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, during the 1992-95 Bosnian War, which resulted in approximately 100,000 deaths. Despite his conviction for overseeing atrocities, including the prolonged siege of Sarajevo, he remained a revered figure for many Serbs who believed he defended his people. Mladic evaded capture for 16 years after being indicted in 1995, before his arrest in 2011.

Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general convicted of overseeing atrocities during the 1990s Bosnian War, has died in prison at the age of 84. Reports from Serbian and Bosnian Serb state television indicated his death occurred in a UN prison hospital in The Hague, Netherlands. Mladic was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 by the UN tribunal for war crimes committed during the Yugoslav wars. He had been in custody since 2011 after years on the run. Mladic commanded Bosnian Serb troops, leading sieges of cities, establishing concentration camps, and orchestrating the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where over 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed. He was considered a notorious figure responsible for widespread death and displacement during the conflict.