Serbia gives military funeral to convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic

Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military leader, was handed a life‑long prison sentence by the United Nations‑established International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) after being found guilty of multiple war crimes committed during the 1992‑1995 Bosnian War. The verdict marks the culmination of a decades‑long judicial process that began shortly after the conflict ended.

The tribunal convicted Mladic of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws of war for his role in the siege of Sarajevo, the Srebrenica massacre and other systematic attacks on civilian populations. Prosecutors presented evidence linking him to the planning and execution of mass killings, forced deportations and the indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, actions that resulted in thousands of deaths and widespread displacement. The life sentence reflects the gravity of the offenses and the tribunal’s mandate to hold senior officials accountable for atrocities committed during the breakup of Yugoslavia.

The ruling reinforces the international community’s commitment to prosecuting war crimes and provides a measure of legal closure for survivors and families of victims. It also underscores the ICTY’s continued relevance in addressing legacy conflicts and deterring future violations of humanitarian law.