'Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko Mladic dies

The Hague, Netherlands - Ratko Mladic, often referred to as the "butcher of Bosnia," has reportedly passed away at the age of 83 or 84. He had claimed that fate had chosen him to protect the Serb people from a Western onslaught. However, he spent his final years in prison for genocide, convicted in 2017 for war crimes in Bosnia.

The tribunal found his actions to be among the most heinous known to humanity, most notably the Srebrenica massacre of around 8,000 Muslim boys and men in 1995. This event led media worldwide to dub him the "butcher of Bosnia." Former UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein described him as "the epitome of evil." Bosnian Serb veteran Ljubo Tomovic stated that convicting Mladic would be a disgrace and a sin.

Serbian state broadcaster RTS reported his death on Thursday after suffering several strokes in recent months. Mladic portrayed himself as a simple man chosen to defend his people, despite overseeing a siege of Sarajevo for over three years, resulting in the deaths of thousands. He also reassured a 12-year-old Muslim boy shortly before the Srebrenica massacre and told the camera, "We give this town to the Serb people as a gift."

Mladic was born during World War II in Kalinovik in eastern Bosnia, with conflicting accounts of his birth year. He joined the army in the 1960s, becoming an officer by 22 and commanding Bosnian Serb forces during the war. Despite being revered by his men, he baffled international negotiators with rambling speeches on Serbian history.

He was dismissed from his post after being indicted in 1995 but evaded capture for 16 years. Arrested in 2011, Mladic was finally transferred to the court, where he was sentenced to life imprisonment.