Archive · 28 Aug 2026
Ratko Mladić, Convicted Bosnian Serb Commander, Dies at 84
Ratko Mladić was a military leader during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s.
His forces surrounded Sarajevo for almost four years and attacked civilians.
They also captured Srebrenica, which had been declared a safe area by the United Nations.
More than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed there in July 1995.
Their bodies were hidden in mass graves.
An international court said the Srebrenica killings were genocide.
Mladić was arrested in Serbia in 2011 after spending 16 years as a fugitive.
He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, where he died at age 84.
Ratko Mladić, known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” has died at 84 in The Hague while serving a life sentence.
He commanded the Army of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian War and led forces responsible for the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre.
More than 10,000 people were killed during the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo, according to the UN prosecution.
Bosnian Serb forces massacred more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys at Srebrenica in July 1995.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted Mladić in 2017, and his genocide conviction and life sentence were upheld in 2021.
- Who
- Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb military commander known as the “Butcher of Bosnia.”
- What
- Mladić died while serving a life sentence for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
- When
- He was captured on 26 May 2011, convicted in 2017, had his conviction upheld in 2021, and later died at age 84; the articles do not give a death date.
- Where
- He died in The Hague, where he was serving his sentence; the crimes occurred mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Sarajevo and Srebrenica.
- Why
- He was imprisoned after the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia found him responsible for crimes committed during the Bosnian War.
- Age at death
- 84
- Nickname
- “Butcher of Bosnia”
- Arrest
- Captured in Serbia on 26 May 2011, after 16 years as a fugitive
- Conviction
- Genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes
- Srebrenica killings
- More than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were massacred in July 1995
- Sarajevo siege
- Nearly four years; more than 10,000 people were killed, according to the UN prosecution
- Sentence
- Life imprisonment, upheld on appeal in 2021