Ratko Mladić, ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ convicted of genocide, dies at 84

Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb warlord general who oversaw wartime atrocities as he led forces that carried out the worst massacre in Europe since World War II, has died. He was 84.

Mladić, known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” died at a hospital in The Hague, Netherlands, U.N. court officials said.

He had been in custody since 2011 after years on the run for war crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. 

In 2017, he was sentenced to life in prison.

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Mladić was one of the most notorious figures in the conflict that left more than 100,000 people dead and displaced more than a million others.

Under his command, Bosnian Serb troops took control of large swaths of Bosnia and Herzegovina and laid siege to the capital of Sarajevo and other cities. His forces detained non-Serb civilians and enemy soldiers in concentration camps and systematically slaughtered prisoners.

Despite the charges levied against him, Mladić never showed remorse. In court, he yelled at the judges when he was sentenced.

Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladić speaks to soldiers near the Bosnian town of Cazin Sept. 4, 1994. (AP Photo/Radivoje Pavicic)

“He was murdered there, in those dungeons,” Janko Seslija, a former Bosnian Serb soldier, told The Associated Press. “I feel sorry for Gen. Mladić. He was an honorable man, honorable soldier and commander.”

A former Communist-era military officer, Mladić sided with the Serbs as Yugoslavia broke apart and disintegrated into war. He led a Serb insurgency in Croatia before taking over the Bosnian Serb army, according to The AP.

Among the horrors Mladić was charged with was the 1995 slaughter of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, which was supposed to be a safe zone guarded by Dutch peacekeepers.

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A mural of former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladić was vandalized with paint in Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

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Mladić seized the town and assured the Muslim children that everything would be fine. Hours later, his troops began days of rape, torture and mass killings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.