Timeline of Ratko Mladic's Life and Death

Ratko Mladic died in prison in The Hague after Serbian authorities made unsuccessful requests for his early release to return to Serbia. Mladic, a war criminal convicted for his role in orchestrating the Srebrenica Genocide in 1995, died at the age of 84. He was serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reaffirmed the seriousness of Mladic's crimes following his death on Thursday. Guterres's spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, stated, "The Secretary-General stands in solidarity with the victims, survivors, and their families who suffered the crimes for which Mr. Mladic was found guilty ... [and] reiterates his call on all those in positions of power to refrain from denying the seriousness of the crimes that have been adjudicated." On Friday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic criticized the UN war crimes court for not permitting Mladic's early release, which would have allowed him to die in Serbia. Earlier this year, Belgrade requested that he be allowed to receive medical treatment outside prison, citing his serious health condition. Mladic, known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," was a prominent military commander during the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia. Under his command, Bosnian Serb forces captured Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the UN designating the area as a "safe zone." In the subsequent days, over 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed. A timeline of Mladic's life includes his birth in March 1942 in Bozanovici, Yugoslavia, his marriage to Bosiljka Jedic, and his rise through the ranks of the Yugoslav National Army. By 1991, he was the head of the Operational Teaching Department of the 9th Corps and was promoted to major-general in 1991 and lieutenant-colonel general in April 1992. Mladic commanded the siege of Sarajevo, which lasted 1,460 days and resulted in over 11,500 deaths. In July 1995, his forces captured Srebrenica and Zepa, leading to the genocide of 8,000 Bosniak men and boys and the expulsion of between 25,000 and 30,000 individuals. Mladic was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes, including the events at Srebrenica. After remaining in hiding, he was arrested on May 26, 2011, and transferred to The Hague for prosecution. His trial began in June 2011, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017. In late 2022, Mladic was hospitalized due to poor health, and in June 2025, he filed a request for release, which was denied. He died while hospitalized in The Hague after approximately 15 years in custody for war crimes in Bosnia.