{"id":2114721,"date":"2026-08-27T13:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T10:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2114721"},"modified":"2026-08-27T13:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T10:48:09","slug":"ratko-mladic-the-monstrous-crimes-of-the-butcher-of-bosnia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2114721","title":{"rendered":"Ratko Mladi\u0107: The monstrous crimes of the &#8216;Butcher of Bosnia&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/8692\/live\/d3439a40-388a-11ef-bbe0-29f79e992ddd.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 dYcznU\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 gvGaxq\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 jJQpIc\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8692\/live\/d3439a40-388a-11ef-bbe0-29f79e992ddd.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Corbis\/Getty Images Ratko Mladi\u0107 is photographed in a close up shot looking away from the camera\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">Corbis\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Ratko Mladi\u0107, who has died at the age of 84, was the bull-necked &#8220;Butcher of Bosnia&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">As Commander of the Bosnian Serb army, he oversaw a brutal campaign of &#8220;ethnic cleansing&#8221; as Yugoslavia splintered in the 1990s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The phrase was a chilling euphemism for the massacre of tens of thousands of men, women and children &#8211; in pursuit of what he saw as a chance to fulfil the historic destiny of Greater Serbia. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">It was a goal he pursued with single-minded determination and studied brutality &#8211; and it made him responsible for the bloodiest atrocities Europe has witnessed since Hitler&#8217;s Third Reich.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">His fanaticism made him a hero to his people. He told them their Muslim neighbours planned to &#8220;impale Serbs, burn them alive, crucify them and put out their eyes&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">He led the long and bloody siege of Sarajevo; killing and maiming its citizens in a daily hail of shells and sniper-fire. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">When his troops overran the UN-declared safe area of Srebrenica, he promised they were safe. Later, 8,000 men and boys were led to unmarked graves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">He and his political counterpart, Radovan Karad\u017ei\u0107, ripped Bosnia apart &#8211; committing acts of genocide and vicious crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The barrel-chested warlord displayed no remorse, giving relatives of his victims a cheery thumbs-up at his eventual trial in the Hague.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">&#8220;Borders are drawn in blood,&#8221; he is reported to have said. &#8220;And states marked out with graves.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/a66f\/live\/ba75db40-e956-11ef-a5ae-231c1271acdf.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Sygma via Getty Images A gravedigger buries civilians killed in the siege of Sarajevo in 1993\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">Sygma via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">A gravedigger buries civilians killed in the siege of Sarajevo in 1993<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Ratko Mladi\u0107 was born on 12 March 1942 in a small mountain village near Sarajevo, then part of the German-controlled Independent State of Croatia &#8211; although he always claimed to be a year younger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Two years later, his father was killed fighting for Tito&#8217;s partisans against Nazi-backed Croat nationalists. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Mladi\u0107 was brought up in the new, post-war construct of Yugoslavia. After a short apprenticeship as a tinsmith, he chose a military career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">He graduated from officer school in 1965. Proving himself an ambitious and capable soldier, he rose rapidly through the ranks, commanding army units in Macedonia and Kosovo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/9faa\/live\/126b82a0-388b-11ef-b390-fb401932e653.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"AFP via Getty Images Ratko Mladic is photographed in military uniform surrounded by his fellow officers during the war in the Balkans\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">General Mladi\u0107&#8217;s troops laid siege to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, for 1,425 days. Thousands were killed by rocket and sniper fire<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Tito&#8217;s death in 1980 was the beginning of the end for Yugoslavia &#8211; always an uneasy confederation of opposing factions, competing nationalisms and simmering hatred.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">In June 1991, Croatia declared independence. Mladi\u0107 was sent in with the Yugoslav army in an effort to re-impose control. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">He gained a reputation for courage bordering on recklessness, ever-present in frontline trenches and personally leading expeditions to clear mines. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">His men loved him for it, their devotion bordering on religious.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">As the war spilled over into Bosnia, his force switched uniforms &#8211; pledging support for the breakaway Republika Srpska. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">He saw the Muslim population as invaders &#8211; the result of an ancient occupation by Ottoman Turks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/730b\/live\/2b6ef3b0-7b4b-11ef-977c-ffbce4b2a32d.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Corbis\/Getty Images A father kneels at his son&apos;s grave in Sarajevo\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">Corbis\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">A father kneels at his son&#8217;s grave in Sarajevo<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Mladi\u0107 vowed to right what he considered a historical injustice, drive out the intruders and then build the ethnically pure nation of his dreams.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">So began the siege of Sarajevo &#8211; the Bosnian capital defended by a rag-tag multi-ethnic force of Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">With his troops dug in on surrounding hillsides, the blockade lasted 1,425 days. It was the longest city siege in the savage history of modern warfare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">On 22 July 1993, nearly 4,000 shells rained down on its terrified people. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">By the end of the siege, 13,000 were dead from shell-fire or a sniper&#8217;s bullet; almost every building in the city either damaged or destroyed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/6f54\/live\/8e793840-7b4a-11ef-977c-ffbce4b2a32d.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Ratko Mladi\u0107 with Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karad\u017ei\u0107. They are both wearing military fatigues\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">Ratko Mladi\u0107 (L) with Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karad\u017ei\u0107<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">In the villages around the capital, legions of men were killed or carted off to prison camps; thousands of women were mercilessly raped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">A communiqu\u00e9 from Gen Mladi\u0107&#8217;s headquarters captured his attitude. &#8220;Shoot at slow intervals until I order you to stop,&#8221; it said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">&#8220;Target Muslim neighbourhoods &#8211; not many Serbs live there. Shell them until they are on the edge of madness.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Revelling in the power of his army, he gave orders by radio, the messages deliberately left unscrambled so they would be picked up and broadcast worldwide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">&#8220;Burn their brains,&#8221; he screamed as his soldiers took aim at one enclave, telling them to follow his orders &#8220;as if given by God.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/ca99\/live\/4a9dcd40-388b-11ef-b390-fb401932e653.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Sygma via Getty Images Emaciated prisoners at a Bosnian Serb camp in 1992\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">Sygma via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">Emaciated prisoners at a Bosnian Serb camp in 1992. Later, some of the survivors would attend the trial of Ratko Mladi\u0107<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">At weekends, he would visit his family, his wife and two children kept safe in Belgrade. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">They would play board games, the conversation deliberately avoiding politics. But his 23-year-old daughter, Ana, had fallen in love with a young doctor and human rights activist. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The doctor gave her an ultimatum: renounce your father or never see me again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Torn between dreams of love and bonds of family, Ana took her father&#8217;s favourite gun from its display case. Moments later, she pulled the trigger. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Mladi\u0107 struggled to come to terms with her suicide, preferring wild conspiracy theories which blamed the tragedy on everyone but himself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Finally, in 1995, Nato lost patience. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">It launched fighter attacks and cruise missile strikes on Mladi\u0107&#8217;s positions around Sarajevo, most of them with devastating effect.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The siege was broken but his murderous campaign to cleanse the country was far from over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">That summer, tens of thousands of Bosniak civilians were gathered in Srebrenica: a small mountain town in eastern Bosnia. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">They were under the protection of the United Nations, which had declared it a &#8220;safe area&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Bosnian Serb troops bombarded them with heavy shells and rockets. Five days later, Mladi\u0107 strutted into town surrounded by TV camera crews.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/090f\/live\/6ee34b70-7b4e-11ef-b02d-c5f3b724a1ea.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Sygma via Getty Images A woman in Srebrenica looking severely distressed\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">Sygma via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">More than eight thousand men and boys were killed by troops in Srebrenica. The troops were under the command of General Mladi\u0107.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">In the main square, he handed out sweets, patted children on the head and assured them all would be fine. They were not fooled. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The handful of Dutch peacekeepers did nothing as men were shot and women were raped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">There followed the single most heinous act on European soil since World War Two. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Mladi\u0107&#8217;s troops rounded up every Bosniak male they could find, marched them to remote sites and murdered them on an industrial scale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">In just a few days, 8,000 men and boys were tied up, blindfolded and shot. Some of them were as young as twelve, others in their late seventies. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">All of them were cruelly pushed into mass, unmarked graves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/0f98\/live\/a9f65260-7b4f-11ef-9f51-2df4bcb50c71.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Gamma-Rapho Images via Getty Images General Mladi\u0107 leads his troops in 1994. He is standing next to a military vehicle and he is holding binoculars \" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">Gamma-Rapho Images via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">General Mladi\u0107 leads his troops in 1994<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">It was genocide: a black moment in European history and the UN&#8217;s darkest hour. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">It was a crime that took a high degree of organisation; the people had been promised UN protection and all this had happened right under its nose.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Later, the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, wrote that responsibility lay &#8220;first and foremost with those who planned and carried out the massacre&#8221;. However, the international community had &#8220;made serious errors of judgement, rooted in a philosophy of impartiality&#8221;, he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Mladi\u0107 was accused of war crimes. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">America offered $5m for information leading to his capture. A year later, Bosnian President Biljana Plavsic buckled to international pressure and dismissed him. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/4c61\/live\/8ca3adc0-fd30-11f0-890b-55ca0a00c59d.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Ratko Mladi\u0107 is photographed wearing ear defenders in a military helicopter during the Bosnian War in 1994\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">Ratko Mladi\u0107 is photographed in a military helicopter during the Bosnian War in 1994<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">But it would be 14 years before he stood trial at the Hague.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">He returned to Belgrade, enjoying the support and protection of President Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Mladi\u0107 lived openly; deer-hunting with friends, eating in swanky restaurants and even attending football matches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">He remained a hero to swathes of his countrymen, who saw in him the Serbian martial spirit and an echo of the past glories of their nation. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">They were determined not to give him to an International Court. The president even established a military force dedicated to Mladi\u0107&#8217;s personal protection.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/a305\/live\/a8a61140-388b-11ef-b390-fb401932e653.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Getty Images Family members mourn a victim of the killings in Srebrenica\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">Family members mourn a victim of the killings in Srebrenica. Many of the thousands left in unmarked graves were exhumed for proper burial.<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The net began to tighten when, in October 2000, Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107 was himself arrested and later delivered to the Hague. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">International politics was beginning to bite, Serbia&#8217;s entry to the European Union held up by its protection of the fugitives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">That night, Mladi\u0107 fled; no longer guaranteed the sanctuary of his state. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">He spent the next decade moving from safe-house to safe-house, first protected by a loyal team of bodyguards and, when they dwindled away, by his family.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">In July 2008, his former political ally, Radovan Karad\u017ei\u0107 &#8211; now a long-bearded faith-healer &#8211; was arrested on a bus in Belgrade. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The new Serbian regime delivered him to the International Court, with which it had formalised co-operation. General Mladi\u0107 was next.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Three years later, he was found. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The police tailed his children to a remote, squalid farmhouse where they stood alone in the courtyard for no apparent reason. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Too nervous to meet them, Mladi\u0107 was watching through a window. When the security forces went in, they found a dishevelled 69-year-old man who had suffered several strokes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/c3b0\/live\/f50638d0-388b-11ef-b390-fb401932e653.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Getty Images An unrepentant Mladi\u0107 gives a thumbs-up at his trial at the International Court of Justice at the Hague\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">An unrepentant Mladi\u0107 gives a thumbs-up at his trial at the International Court of Justice at the Hague<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The trial itself took four years. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">The court sat for more than 500 days, heard from nearly 600 witnesses, and examined nearly 10,000 bits of evidence. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Due process was followed, although few doubted what the verdict would be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Ratko Mladi\u0107 was shown giving orders to his troops immediately before the Srebrenica massacre and convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the &#8220;customs of war&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">He entered the courtroom with a smile and a thumbs-up to the cameras but exploded with anger at the verdicts. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Screaming that it was &#8220;all lies&#8221;, he was forcibly removed. His sentence meant he would die in prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Among the many victims and their relatives present at his trial was Fikret Alic, a prisoner famously filmed in a skeletal state in a Bosnian Serb concentration camp in 1992.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">&#8220;Justice has been done,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The war criminal has been convicted&#8221;. Others simply dissolved in tears.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 kugUwP\">\n<figure class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 ieGDnl\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageCardStyled-sc-8c99a12b-1 bOmCce\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260821-111954-d28c495a96-web-3.19.0-2\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 kpUtIW hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/2592\/live\/92d075b0-7b50-11ef-9f51-2df4bcb50c71.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"AFP via Getty Images A Sarajevo mural in 2023 in praise of Mladic\" class=\"Image-styles__ImageStyled-sc-8c99a12b-0 cVsHni\"><span class=\"Image-styles__CreditStyled-sc-8c99a12b-2 dVFjVB\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 tlbDj\"><figcaption class=\"Caption-styles__CaptionStyled-sc-70433723-0 fLsOPx\">A Sarajevo mural in 2023. Despite his crimes, Ratko Mladi\u0107 remains popular with some Serbian nationalists<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">But the widespread joy at the verdicts was far from universal. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Some Bosniaks were disappointed he had not been convicted of crimes outside Sarajevo and Srebrenica. And many fellow Serbs reacted with rage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">One leading politician in Republika Srpska condemned the trial as a plot to demonise his people, and called for them to &#8220;forever erase every mention&#8221; of the court proceedings from school history books.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">In 2024, the court turned down his application to serve the rest of his sentence in Serbia. Having suffered heart attacks and strokes, Mladi\u0107 claimed that his health would be better protected in his home country. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">His lawyers continued to reapply unsuccessfully for his release, on the grounds that he had only months to live.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">Both Serbia and Russia have supported his legal appeals. In Bosnia, by contrast, an opposition politician was sentenced to three years in prison for &#8220;glorifying&#8221; Karad\u017ei\u0107 and Mladi\u0107 in January 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">For many of his people, the &#8220;Butcher of Bosnia&#8221; was just a simple soldier and the protector of their way of life. But he will be remembered by Bosniaks and most of the international community as a murderous thug who disgraced the European stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"Container-styles__ContainerStyled-sc-8b855a6c-0 cPmzSx\">\n<div class=\"Grid-styles__GridStyled-sc-70d90311-0 hRsXiV\">\n<div class=\"GridItem-styles__GridItemStyled-sc-6cc20e4a-0 bnCeGm\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph-styles__ParagraphStyled-sc-ffb5f5ba-0 fqhmpl\">In Bosnia, Muslims and Serbs live side-by-side in uneasy cohabitation. The violent nationalist war waged by Mladi\u0107 and Radovan Karad\u017ei\u0107  in the 1990s may be over, but tension still exists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c2q05wzlx5xo&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/8692\/live\/d3439a40-388a-11ef-bbe0-29f79e992ddd.jpg&#8221;] Corbis\/Getty Images Ratko Mladi\u0107, who has died at the age of 84, was the bull-necked &#8220;Butcher of Bosnia&#8221;. As Commander of the Bosnian Serb army, he oversaw a brutal campaign of &#8220;ethnic cleansing&#8221; as Yugoslavia splintered in the 1990s. The phrase was a chilling euphemism for the massacre of tens of thousands [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2114721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2114721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2114721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2114721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2114721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2114721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}