No Dutch investigation into Mladic's death

The United Nations court on Saturday evening announced that Dutch authorities would not be conducting a criminal investigation into the death of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb war criminal. Mladic, currently serving a life sentence in The Hague for genocide and war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict, passed away in a hospital on Thursday after experiencing multiple strokes in recent months.

The exact year of his birth has been a subject of debate; he claimed to have been born in 1943, whereas the tribunal listed it as 1942. Local media sources reported that Mladic had died at the age of 84.

According to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Dutch authorities had completed the necessary procedures mandated by national law. On Friday, they determined that no criminal inquiry would be initiated, and they decided against performing an autopsy. The Mechanism also appointed Judge Iain Bonomy to conduct a distinct investigation into Mladic's demise, which remains ongoing and confidential at this stage.

On Monday, just days prior to Mladic's passing, Serbian officials had advocated for his release due to health concerns, seeking treatment in Serbia. In May, the Mechanism had already denied a request from Mladic's family for his release on health grounds. Mladic, who was apprehended in Serbia in 2011, had his conviction confirmed on appeal in 2021.

One of the charges against him pertains to the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where an estimated 8,000 Bosnian men and boys were killed – the most significant atrocity in Europe since World War II.

The Mechanism's role is to fulfill the residual duties of the UN tribunals based in The Hague, encompassing the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which convicted Mladic.