Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb warlord general who oversaw atrocities during the Bosnian War, has died at the age of 84. According to U.N. court officials, Mladić died at a hospital in The Hague, Netherlands, where he had been in custody since 2011.
Mladić was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life in prison in 2017. He was one of the most notorious figures in the conflict that ravaged Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, leaving over 100,000 people dead and displacing more than a million others. Under his command, Bosnian Serb troops controlled large areas of the country and besieged the capital city of Sarajevo.
Mladić was charged with numerous atrocities, including the detention and slaughter of non-Serb civilians and enemy soldiers in concentration camps. One of the most egregious examples of his brutality was the 1995 massacre of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, a town that was supposed to be a safe zone guarded by Dutch peacekeepers.
Despite being convicted and sentenced to life in prison, Mladić never expressed remorse for his actions. In fact, he became defiant in court, yelling at the judges when he was sentenced. Some former Bosnian Serb soldiers, however, have defended Mladić, with one describing him as an "honorable man, honorable soldier and commander."
Mladić's death comes after years of being held in custody, and his passing marks the end of a long and tumultuous chapter in the history of the former Yugoslavia.
NTC Report coverage is based on reporting from the original publisher.
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