Ratko Mladić, ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ convicted of genocide, dies at 84

Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb military commander known as the 'Butcher of Bosnia' for his role in the atrocities of the 1990s Yugoslav wars, has died at age 84. According to Fox News and the Associated Press, UN court officials confirmed he passed away in a Hague prison hospital in the Netherlands. Mladić had been in custody since 2011 and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017. During the Balkan conflicts, he led forces responsible for the siege of Sarajevo and systematic mass killings. Among the most horrific crimes under his command was the 1995 slaughter of approximately 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, widely regarded as the worst massacre in Europe since World War II. Mladić never expressed remorse during his trial and famously shouted at judges when his sentence was delivered. While the international community holds him responsible for crimes against humanity, some of his former soldiers and supporters, such as Janko Seslija, have described him as an 'honorable commander' and criticized his death in custody.