Ratko Mladic dies in prison at age 84 while serving life sentence for genocide

Ratko Mladic, the commander of the Bosnian Serb army, died in a prison hospital in The Hague at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence. He was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, most notably the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo. During the 1990s, Mladić oversaw a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 100,000 people and the displacement of 2.7 million people. He was particularly noted for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where at least 8,000 Muslim men and boys were allegedly killed by Bosnian Serb forces. The death of Mladić has sparked a divide in regional reactions. Serbia and the Republika Srpska have honored him as a national hero, with the Serbian government announcing a state funeral with high military honors. Conversely, the European Commission and the UN have urged leaders to refrain from glorifying a convicted war criminal. While Mladić showed little remorse during his trial, his legacy remains a point of political and historical contention in the Balkans.

Sources

• DW.com
  Mladic's death, Bosnia and Serbia's unfinished reckoning
• The Guardian
  ‘The butcher may be gone, but to many he is a hero’: victims condemn glorification of Mladić
• CNN
  Ratko Mladić, Bosnian-Serb general dubbed, the ‘Butcher of Bosnia,’ dies aged 84

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Paywall and unreadable sources

• Bloomberg.com
  EU Urges Serbia to Not Give Honors Burial to War Criminal Mladic
• Bluefield Daily Telegraph
  Serbia Mladic