Bosnian Serb convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic has died, Serbian TV reports

Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military leader known as the "Butcher of Bosnia" for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, has passed away, according to Serbian state broadcaster RTS on Thursday. The 69-year-old, who had been suffering from multiple strokes in recent months, was currently serving a life sentence at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Mladic oversaw the Srebrenica tragedy, Europe's worst act of violence since World War II, which resulted in the execution of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys. Alongside ex-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic and Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Mladic was the face of a brutal trio that dominated the former Yugoslavia's descent into chaos after the collapse of communism.

The 1992-1995 war claimed around 100,000 lives and displaced 2.2 million people. The most notorious act of atrocity took place in Srebrenica, where Serb forces under Mladic's command killed 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys sheltering under a UN-protected safe zone. Mladic was convicted in 2017, and his life sentence was confirmed on appeal in 2021.

Despite his conviction, his family and Serbian officials had petitioned for his release due to his deteriorating health, but their request was denied. Mladic's defense argued that continued detention was inhumane due to his terminal and incurable medical condition, but the court disagreed. Known for his defiance during the trial, Mladic maintained his innocence and accused the court of being a "child of western powers".