Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian-Serb general who commanded the massacre of 8,000 at Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo, has died in a prison in The Hague while serving a life sentence.
On 27 August 2026, international news agencies reported that Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian-Serb general responsible for the massacre of 8,000 at Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo during the Balkan wars, died in a prison in The Hague, Netherlands, at the age of 84. His lawyer revealed that Mladić died while serving a life sentence under the custody of the United Nations detention unit.
Known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," Mladić was convicted in 2017 by the United Nations-established International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for planning and commanding ethnic cleansing operations against non-Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the early 1990s. The court found him guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, persecution, extermination, murder, terrorism, unlawful attacks on civilians, and hostage-taking.
Mladić evaded arrest for years before being captured in Serbia in 2011 and transferred to trial in The Hague. He spent over 15 years in prison. After being sentenced to life imprisonment, Mladić filed multiple appeals and requests for release on health grounds. His most recent humanitarian plea was submitted last week, citing rapid health deterioration and a risk of imminent death as confirmed by prison doctors. However, this request was denied shortly before his death occurred.