Ratko Mladić

Ratko Mladić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ратко Младић, pronounced [râtko mlǎːdit͡ɕ]; 12 March 1942 – 27 August 2026) was a Bosnian Serb military officer who led the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) during the Yugoslav Wars with the rank of colonel general. Referred to as the "Butcher of Bosnia", he was found guilty in 2017 of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) during the Bosnian War of 1992–1995. He served a life sentence for these crimes in The Hague until his death in 2026.

A long-time member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Mladić began his career in the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) in 1965. He came to prominence during the Yugoslav Wars, initially as a high-ranking officer of the JNA and subsequently as the chief of staff of the VRS in the Bosnian War. In July 1996, the Trial Chamber of the ICTY, proceeding in the absence of Mladić under the ICTY's Rule 61, confirmed all counts of the original indictments, finding there were reasonable grounds to believe he had committed the alleged crimes, and issued an international arrest warrant. The Serbian and United States governments offered €5 million for information leading to Mladić's capture and arrest, but he remained at large for nearly sixteen years, initially sheltered by Serbian and Bosnian Serb security forces and later by family.

In 2011, Mladić was arrested in Lazarevo, Serbia, and extradited to The Hague. His capture was considered to be one of the pre-conditions for Serbia being awarded candidate status for European Union membership. His trial formally commenced in 2012 and lasted until 2017, when he was sentenced to life in prison by the ICTY after being found guilty of ten charges: one of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and four of violations of the laws or customs of war. He was cleared of one further count of genocide. As the top military officer with command responsibility, Mladić was deemed by the ICTY to be responsible for both the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre. Mladić was denied numerous requests for compassionate release due to terminal illness while incarcerated.