Ratko Mladic dies as UN chief backs victims

Former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic died on Thursday while serving a life sentence in The Hague, after convictions for genocide and war crimes linked to the Bosnian war.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed support for Mladic's victims after his death. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres “stands in solidarity with the victims, survivors and their families who suffered the crimes for which Mr Mladic was found guilty.”

Mladic was convicted over crimes including the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo by his forces from 1992 to 1996 and the massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.

He was arrested in Serbia in 2011 after 16 years on the run, sentenced to life imprisonment in The Hague in 2017 and had the verdict confirmed on appeal in 2021.