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Former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, who was serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, has died at the age of 84.
Mladic died on Thursday at a United Nations prison hospital in The Hague, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals confirmed. The tribunal said a full inquiry would be conducted into the circumstances of his death.
Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” Mladic was one of the key commanders of Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War. He was convicted of genocide for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed. He was also held responsible for the brutal siege of Sarajevo and other atrocities.
Mladic was captured in Serbia in 2011 after nearly 16 years on the run.
In 2017, a UN-backed tribunal convicted him and sentenced him to life imprisonment. His conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal in 2021.
His death marks the end of the life of one of the most notorious figures of the Balkan wars, whose legacy remains deeply divisive in Bosnia and Serbia.