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Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, convicted of genocide, has died, Serbian TV reports
The former Bosnian Serb commander died after years of declining health and repeated hospitalizations, while his conviction for genocide and war crimes remained in force.
On Thursday, Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic died in a United Nations detention centre in The Hague, Serbian broadcaster Informer TV reported. He was serving a life sentence for genocide.
Known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," Mladic was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for masterminding the Srebrenica massacre, where he was responsible for killing around 8,000 Muslim men and boys.
The former general had been in the United Nations detention centre since 2011 and suffered from ill health for years. Earlier this year, his defense team requested release, citing "advanced, irreversible medical decline."
Serbian public broadcaster RTS confirmed the death to Reuters through his lawyer. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia labeled his crimes as some of the "most heinous" in human history.
Mladic orchestrated the siege of Sarajevo during the Balkan wars in the 1990s. His death concludes legal proceedings for one of the primary figures responsible for the region's violent ethnic conflicts.