Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general convicted of genocide during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war, has died at 84 while serving a life sentence at the United Nations detention centre in The Hague, a UN official said.
Serbia’s state broadcaster reported that Mladic, known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” died in a prison hospital after suffering several strokes.
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The UN tribunal in The Hague dismissed his appeal in 2021, upholding the life sentence imposed in 2017 for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict.
Mladic evaded capture for a decade before authorities arrested him in 2011. He was the military commander in a notorious wartime leadership trio that included former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic, the former political leader of the Bosnian Serbs.
Ratko Mladic (C) pictured as he arrived at the airport of Sarajevo on 10 August 1993
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced his support for the victims of Mladic’s crimes.
“The secretary-general stands in solidarity with the victims, survivors and their families who suffered the crimes for which Mr Mladic was found guilty,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
