politics

Ratko Mladić, the ‘Butcher of Bosnia’, dies aged 84

Bosnian Serb commander responsible for Srebrenica massacre dies in prison while serving life sentence for genocide

Ratko Mladić, the ‘Butcher of Bosnia’, dies aged 84

TL;DR

  • Ratko Mladić, a Serbian general convicted of genocide during the Bosnian War, has died in prison at age 84.
  • He was a key figure in the "ethnic cleansing" policy and orchestrated the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the worst in Europe since WWII.
  • Mladić, nicknamed the "Butcher of Bosnia," was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 and had been in ill health.
  • He commanded troops involved in the siege of Sarajevo and aimed for the forcible expulsion of non-Serbs to create a greater Serbia.
  • Mladić was arrested in 2011 after 16 years on the run and famously denied the court's legitimacy.