Kenneth Glad
The death of a former military commander has brought old political and historical disputes back into public view. Reactions have again highlighted how differently the conflict and its consequences are remembered.
Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, died aged 84 while hospitalized in The Hague, where he had remained under international detention.
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said Mladic was still under the United Nations detention framework at the time of his death, following years of legal proceedings linked to crimes committed during the Bosnian war.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted him in 2017 and imposed a life sentence. In 2021, the successor Mechanism upheld both his convictions and the punishment, leaving the judgment and sentence unchanged.
Victims stress accountability
Mladic was convicted for crimes that included his role in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, where more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed. He also commanded Bosnian Serb forces during the prolonged siege of Sarajevo, which left thousands of civilians dead.
Kada Hotic, whose husband and son were killed by Serb forces, told Reuters: “He died in disgrace, because he killed so many people.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed solidarity with victims, survivors and their families. According to Reuters, he also condemned denial of the Srebrenica genocide and the glorification of people convicted by international courts of major crimes.
Tribunal faces criticism
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik offered a sharply different response, telling Reuters: “It is a murder. He (Mladic) was respected by Serbian people. As a commander he stood to defend Serbs.”
Serbian ultra-nationalist politician Vojislav Seselj also accused the authorities of responsibility for Mladic’s death. He told Reuters: “Mladic fought against those villains for a long time; they expected his death two or three years ago, but he did not give up … They killed him.”
Russia likewise renewed its criticism of the Hague tribunal. The Kyiv Post reported that Moscow accused the tribunal of anti-Serb bias and argued that Mladic’s basic rights, including access to adequate medical care, had not been properly protected during his detention.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also described the proceedings against Mladic as an example of what it regarded as double standards in the tribunal’s treatment of Serbs.
Despite those objections, Mladic’s convictions and life sentence remain part of the international judicial record. The rulings against him were upheld on appeal, even as supporters and Moscow continued to challenge aspects of the tribunal’s conduct and his treatment in custody.
Sources: Reuters, Kyiv Post, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
