Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander serving a life sentence for genocide and war crimes during the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict, has died in a UN prison hospital in The Hague at age 84.
Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general known as the "butcher of Bosnia," has died at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence for genocide and crimes against humanity. According to Serbian state television RTS and Bosnian Serb media outlets, Mladic died in a UN prison hospital in The Hague, Netherlands. A UN official confirmed the death to Reuters news agency, and a family member told the Associated Press that Mladic's son was travelling to The Hague.
Mladic was convicted in 2017 for orchestrating the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which at least 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were systematically killed in a UN-designated safe area. The massacre is considered Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. As commander of Bosnian Serb forces during the three-year conflict that killed over 100,000 people, Mladic oversaw the siege of Sarajevo, the establishment of detention camps, and the systematic execution of prisoners. The UN tribunal determined that the killings were part of a coordinated "ethnic cleansing" campaign designed to expel non-Serb populations and establish a Greater Serbia.
Mladic remained defiant throughout his legal proceedings. He rejected the court's authority at a 2014 hearing, declaring "I do not recognise this court," and upon receiving his life sentence in 2017, he shouted from the courtroom that the verdict was fabricated. Former UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein characterised Mladic as "the epitome of evil" following his conviction.
