A convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal has died in The Hague after a long period of poor health and multiple strokes.Ratko Mladić, the former general of Bosnian Serb forces during the bloody Bosnian War, was convicted of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for his role in the massacre of thousands of Bosniaks, also known as Bosnian Muslims.Mladić, who died at the age of 84, had been given the nickname 'The Butcher of Bosnia' due to his malicious crackdown against Bosnian Muslims during the war, including his orchestration of the infamous Srebrenica massacre.The 1995 Srebrenica massacre occurred when troops commanded by Mladić killed over 8,300 Bosniak boys and men inside the designated UN "safe zone" of Srebrenica.Mladić's troops also forcibly displaced and abused around 25,000 to 30,000 other Bosniak civilians, mainly women and children.The massacre was Europe's most deadly atrocity since the Second World War..Convicted for his crimes before an international tribunal in 2017, Mladić spent his final years at a UN-administered prison in The Hague, Netherlands.During his trial the tribunal described his crimes as "amongst the most heinous known to humankind."After being sentenced to life in prison, he famously shouted in the courtroom that "This is all lies; you are all liars!”During his trial he denied any responsibility and showed little to no remorse for his actions.Despite his conviction and role in the massacre of innocent people, Mladić is still well regarded in some Bosnian Serb and Serbian nationalist circles who view him as a patriotic commander.Mladić was one of many former Serbian commanders found guilty of war crimes and genocide, with the trials for war criminals of the Yugoslav Wars being the most comprehensive war crimes trials since Nuremberg.A former communist officer, Mladić quickly became one of the most important figures in the Bosnian Serb forces during wars following the breakup of Yugoslavia..He has been described as a "warlord," as, during the war, he was able to take control of large swaths of the country and put it under his direct control, effectively making him the warlord of a Bosnian Serb mini-state.During the war he had also boasted about being a "Serbian god" and was also reported to command his troops to "scorch the brains" of the Bosniak population.Mladić's troops laid siege to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, bombarding the city alongside neighbouring towns and villages.He also established camps to detain Bosniak soldiers and civilians where the systematic killing of prisoners was a common occurrence.He is reported to have died on Thursday in a UN prison hospital in The Netherlands after suffering from multiple strokes.
