Ratko Mladic, 'Butcher of Bosnia' and 'Epitome of Evil,' Reportedly Dies at 83 or 84

Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army commander convicted of genocide and war crimes, has reportedly died at the age of 83 or 84. Dubbed the "butcher of Bosnia," Mladic was sentenced in 2017 for orchestrating atrocities during the Bosnian War, including the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, which killed some 8,000 Muslim men and boys. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia described his crimes as "amongst the most heinous known to humankind."

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He only defended his people. To convict him would be a disgrace and a sin.

Mladic maintained he was a defender of the Serb people, claiming "fate" had placed him in that position to protect them from a "Western onslaught." He described himself as a "simple man" chosen to protect his country, which he accused Western powers, the Vatican, and the "Western mafia" of devastating. This narrative resonated with many Serbs, who continued to revere him as a national hero.

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Fate put me in a position to defend my country that you Western powers had devastated with the help of the Vatican and the Western mafia.

However, his legacy is overwhelmingly defined by the brutal violence he unleashed. Mladic oversaw the lengthy siege of Sarajevo, where his forces killed thousands of civilians. Video evidence also captured him reassuring children in Srebrenica shortly before his soldiers carried out the massacre. He formed a nationalist triumvirate with Radovan Karadzic and Slobodan Milosevic, aiming to redraw the region's map through ethnic cleansing.

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We give this town to the Serb people as a gift.

Born during World War II in eastern Bosnia, Mladic's life was marked by conflict from an early age. His father died fighting for Marshal Tito's forces. Mladic pursued a military career, joining army training in Belgrade in the early 1960s and becoming an officer by his early twenties. His military path led him to command Bosnian Serb forces, where he became a central figure in the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia.

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amongst the most heinous known to humankind