Convicted War Criminal Ratko Mladic Dies in The Hague

Convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic died Thursday at the age of 84 in a hospital at the UN Detention Unit in The Hague, Netherlands. United Nations officials confirmed the death of the former Bosnian Serb general, who was serving a life sentence handed down in 2017 for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

During the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mladic commanded forces that besieged Sarajevo and executed the Srebrenica massacre, where over 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed. After years as a fugitive, he was arrested in 2011 near Belgrade, Serbia.

His death sparked polarized reactions across the Balkans. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and nationalist politicians, including Milorad Dodik and Aleksandar Vulin, alleged the UN court denied Mladic proper medical care, with some characterizing the death as a killing. In contrast, Bosniak survivors and the Association of Genocide Victims and Witnesses condemned the glorification of Mladic, emphasizing his status as a convicted criminal. While victims' advocates described him as the criminal of the Balkans, some young Bosnian Serbs gathered in the streets to celebrate him as a hero and protector of the Serbs.