Bosnian Serb convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic dies

⁠Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic, ⁠who was ⁠serving a life sentence for ‌genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity during the bloody 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has ⁠died.

Mladic, the so-called “butcher of Bosnia” died at the age of either 83 or 84, the Serbian state RTS television and the official Bosnian Serb television reported. His death was also confirmed by a UN official speaking to the Reuters news agency.

The reports said that Mladic died in a UN prison hospital in The Hague, Netherlands.

A family member of Mladic, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, confirmed the reports.

Mladic was convicted of genocide for orchestrating the 1995 massacre of at least ‌8,000 Muslims in a UN-designated “safe area” of Bosnia, in Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II.

He spent his last years in jail after he was convicted in 2017 for crimes the tribunal said at the time were “amongst the most heinous known to humankind”.

Former UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein described him as “the epitome of evil” after his conviction.

More to come…