Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb wartime commander convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, has died at the age of 85 while serving his sentence in The Hague, according to Serbian media reports.
Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” Mladić became one of the most notorious figures of the Bosnian war. His name remains inseparable from the Srebrenica genocide and the campaign of terror waged against civilians during the conflict.
In June 2021, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague upheld his conviction for genocide committed in Srebrenica, as well as persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, inhumane acts, terror, unlawful attacks on civilians in Sarajevo and the taking of UN personnel hostage.
The court found him guilty on 10 of 11 counts.
Mladić had reportedly been in poor health in recent weeks.
His death does not erase the historical record or the court’s findings. The victims of Srebrenica and the thousands of civilians targeted during the war remain at the centre of a legacy defined by mass killing, forced displacement and atrocities.
A man who spent years evading justice ultimately spent his final years behind bars in The Hague — convicted by an international court for some of the gravest crimes committed in Europe since the Second World War.
