SREBRENICA, July 11 (Online): Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, the chief architect of the Srebrenica genocide, was still without a final verdict even 25 years after the massacre.
In July 1995, Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in a few days. The episode – labelled as genocide by two international courts – came at the end of a 1992-95 war between Bosnia’s Croats, Muslims and Serbs that killed some 100,000 people.
Mladic was handed a life sentence in 2017 for genocide and other crimes by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), but the appeal has yet to begin.
His victims’ relatives have been worrying that the now frail former general may die before being dealt incontestable justice.
Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, an ethnic melting pot once showcased as an example of “brotherhood and unity” in Yugoslavia, Mladic – now 77 – was an anonymous army officer until the violent breakup of the federation in 1991.
A year later, he was appointed the overall commander of Bosnian Serb forces. He carried out a swift, merciless campaign against the then far weaker Bosniak and Croat forces, grabbing swathes of land for the Serbs.
At one point, the Serbs, who virtually inherited the Yugoslav army in Bosnia, controlled three-quarters of the country. His forces also launched a campaign of terror against Bosniaks and Croats wherever possible.
The ICTY judgement detailed gruesome details of murder, beatings, rape and other atrocities, some of which he ordered or witnessed personally.
During the trial, Mladic showed no remorse; on the contrary, despite being frail and occasionally not fully coherent, he attempted to radiate the same arrogance which showed during the 1992-95 war.
“I want my enemies, and there are many, to drop dead because I am still alive,” he said as the trial opened eight years ago.
Stay tuned to Baaghi TV for latest news and updates!
