Ratko Mladić commanded the army of the Bosnian Serb entity throughout the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. On November 22, 2017 Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found him guilty on ten of the eleven counts against him and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The conviction for genocide concerned Srebrenica in July 1995. The Chamber also found him guilty of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation and forcible transfer as crimes against humanity, and of murder, terror, unlawful attacks on civilians and the taking of hostages as violations of the laws or customs of war. He was acquitted of a second genocide count that concerned crimes in a group of municipalities in 1992.
The Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) delivered its judgment on June 8, 2021. It dismissed his appeal in its entirety, dismissed the Prosecution's appeal against the acquittal in its entirety, and affirmed the life sentence. He died in The Hague on August 27, 2026, aged 84, while awaiting transfer to a State to serve the rest of the sentence. His was the last Bosnian genocide case before the court.
Mladić was born in 1942 in the Kalinovik area of what was then Yugoslavia, now part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He became an officer in the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). When Yugoslavia began to break apart in 1991 he was posted to lead the JNA's 9th Corps against Croatian forces at Knin, and he later commanded the army's second military district, based in Sarajevo.
On May 12, 1992 the Bosnian Serb assembly created its own army, the Army of the Bosnian-Serb Republic, known by its initials VRS, and appointed him commander of its Main Staff. He held that post until at least November 8, 1996. He was promoted to General Colonel in June 1994. For the whole of the period covered by the later indictment he was the senior military officer of the VRS, working under Radovan Karadžić, the wartime political leader of the Bosnian Serbs.
The tribunal that eventually judged him had been created by the UN Security Council in 1993, on the basis of Resolution 808 of February 22, 1993 and Resolution 827 of May 25, 1993. Its mandate was to prosecute serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991. By the time Mladić came before it, the war he had commanded in had ended, in late 1995, but the question of individual responsibility for what the tribunal's charging documents described as a campaign against Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat civilians had not.
The ICTY first indicted Mladić in July 1995, while the war was still in progress. The first indictments were filed on July 24 and November 16, 1995. International arrest warrants for him and for Karadžić followed in mid-1996. He evaded arrest for 16 years. After the war he returned to Belgrade and lived in hiding. Serbia's government acknowledged in 2008 that he had received military protection until mid-2002.
The indictment on which he was finally tried went through changes. He was initially charged with 15 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. On May 27, 2011, the day after his arrest, the tribunal approved a Prosecution request to restructure the indictment and reduce it to 11 counts. An operative indictment on those 11 counts was filed on December 16, 2011. It charged him with two counts of genocide (Counts 1 and 2), five crimes against humanity (persecution, extermination, murder, deportation and inhumane acts by forcible transfer) and four violations of the laws or customs of war (murder, terror, unlawful attacks on civilians and the taking of hostages). He was charged both as a participant in several joint criminal enterprises and as a superior under Article 7(3) of the tribunal's Statute. The charges covered the period from May 12, 1992 to November 30, 1995.
Serbian authorities arrested Mladić on May 26, 2011 in the village of Lazarevo, north of Belgrade. The tribunal said he would be transferred to The Hague once the Serbian judicial proceedings required by Serbian law had been completed. A Serbian court rejected an appeal based on his claimed illness, and he was transferred to the tribunal on May 31, 2011.
Mladić made his first appearance before the tribunal on June 3, 2011. He described the allegations in the indictment as disgusting and said he needed time to study them. He did not enter a plea. The presiding judge explained that the rules allowed an accused 30 days from the initial appearance to plead, and that if the accused declined, the Chamber would enter a plea of not guilty on his behalf. A further appearance was set for July 4, 2011.
At that hearing he again declined to plead, and the Trial Chamber entered pleas of not guilty on his behalf. A tribunal spokesperson later said that Mladić had communicated with the public gallery, particularly with representatives of victims, by gestures, that they had answered in kind, and that the presiding judge had warned him twice to stop. Mladić denied the charges throughout the proceedings and maintained that he was innocent of all of them.
The trial opened on May 16, 2012 before ICTY Trial Chamber I in The Hague. The Prosecution made its opening statement on that first day. The indictment charged genocide in Srebrenica and in several municipalities, persecution of Muslims and Croats across Bosnia, the siege of Sarajevo, and the taking of UN personnel hostage. The Prosecution alleged that he bore individual responsibility for the deaths of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in July 1995.
On May 17, 2012, the second day, the presiding judge adjourned the trial because of what he called significant disclosure errors by the Prosecution. Not all of the Prosecution's evidence had been given to Mladić's lawyers as required, and the Chamber needed time to assess the scope and full effect of the mistake. The defense said it had not seen thousands of pages of evidence and that reviewing them would take about six months. The adjournment was indefinite when announced, and evidence was to have begun on May 29.
The trial resumed, and the Prosecution case ran from May 16, 2012 to February 26, 2014. The defense case followed from May 19, 2014 to August 16, 2016. The Chamber sat for 530 trial days. In all, 592 witnesses were called, 169 for the Prosecution and 208 for the defense, with 377 appearing in court, and 9,914 exhibits were admitted, 7,803 for the Prosecution, 2,108 for the defense and three for the Chamber. Closing arguments were heard from December 5 to 15, 2016.
The Trial Chamber delivered its judgment on November 22, 2017. During the reading, his lawyers asked for a halt because of his health. The Chamber refused the request. Mladić stood in the courtroom, shouted that he did not feel well, and was removed. The verdict was read in his absence.
The Chamber acquitted him of Count 1, "Genocide", and convicted him, as a member of various joint criminal enterprises, on the remaining ten counts. Count 2, "Genocide". Count 3, "Persecution, a crime against humanity". Count 4, "Extermination, a crime against humanity". Count 5, "Murder, a crime against humanity". Count 6, "Murder, a violation of the laws or customs of war". Count 7, "Deportation, a crime against humanity". Count 8, "the inhumane act of Forcible Transfer, a crime against humanity". Count 9, "Terror, a violation of the laws or customs of war". Count 10, "Unlawful attacks on civilians, a violation of the laws or customs of war". Count 11, "Taking of hostages, a violation of the laws or customs of war". He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Chamber found that most of the mitigating factors advanced by the defense carried little or no weight.
The Chamber found that he took part in four joint criminal enterprises.
The first was what the Chamber called the Overarching joint criminal enterprise. Its aim, which ran from 1991 to November 30, 1995, was to permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from the territory claimed by the Bosnian Serb leadership. The Chamber found that genocide was not part of the objective of this enterprise. It found that Mladić became a member on May 12, 1992, the day he took command of the VRS Main Staff.
Under this enterprise the Chamber convicted him of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation and forcible transfer. It found deportation and forcible transfer in the municipalities of Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Foča, Ilidža, Ključ, Kotor Varoš, Novi Grad, Pale, Prijedor, Rogatica, Sanski Most, Sokolac and Vlasenica. The same enterprise underlies the Chamber's findings of murder and extermination of Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats in 1992.
The second was the Sarajevo joint criminal enterprise, which the Chamber found existed from May 12, 1992 to November 1995. Its aim was to spread terror among the civilian population of Sarajevo. The Chamber found that Mladić was a member throughout the period covered by the indictment. It is the basis for his convictions for terror and for unlawful attacks on civilians, with some of the murder convictions.
The Mechanism lists four people convicted of crimes during the siege: Stanislav Galić, Dragomir Milošević, Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić. It records Momčilo Perišić as acquitted and Slobodan Milošević and Đorđe Đukić as having died before a verdict.
The third enterprise concerned Srebrenica. The Chamber found that its aim was to eliminate the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica by killing the men and boys and forcibly removing the women, young children and some elderly men. It found that this enterprise existed until at least October 1995, that Mladić was a member of it, and that genocide formed part of the means he intended. This finding is the basis of Count 2.
The Chamber found that by July 12, 1995 between 25,000 and 30,000 Bosnian Muslim civilians had gathered at Potočari. Between July 12 and 14, approximately 25,000 people were transported out. The Chamber found that several thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered, mostly between July 12 and 17, 1995. That is the finding on which the genocide conviction rests.
The fourth enterprise was the Hostage-taking joint criminal enterprise. The Chamber found that it ran from about May 25 to June 24, 1995 and that its aim was to capture UN personnel and detain them at strategic military sites to prevent NATO air strikes. It found that between 260 and 400 UN military observers and UNPROFOR personnel were detained across Bosnia and Herzegovina. This enterprise is the basis of Count 11. It was the only one of the four on which the Appeals Chamber was unanimous in dismissing his appeal.
Count 1 concerned the same crime as Count 2, genocide, but alleged in six municipalities in 1992. By majority, the Trial Chamber found that the intent to destroy Bosnian Muslims as a group existed in Sanski Most, Vlasenica and Foča, and, for certain perpetrators, in Kotor Varoš and Prijedor. It nevertheless found that the targeted Muslims were not a substantial part of the group, so genocide was not established there. Acquittal on that count therefore followed from the size of the targeted communities in relation to the whole Bosnian Muslim group, not from a finding that the intent was lacking. The count was the subject of the Prosecution's appeal.
On the day of the verdict, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called it a momentous victory for justice. The Serbian president urged his country to look to the future. The Bosnian Serb leader said the verdict would reinforce a view of Mladić among Serbs as a hero. Survivors of Srebrenica gave different responses. The president of an association of mothers of Srebrenica said she was partially satisfied, and another survivor said she was dissatisfied with the not-guilty finding on the genocide count in the municipalities. A former mayor of Srebrenica said the verdict was emotionally satisfying for victims' families but that some people still denied what had happened. Mladić's lawyer announced that the verdict would be appealed.
The ICTY closed on December 31, 2017, five weeks after the verdict, and the appeal went to the Mechanism, which the Security Council had created by Resolution 1966 on December 22, 2010 by 14 votes in favor, none against and one abstention. The resolution gave the Mechanism the jurisdiction and essential functions of the ICTY and of the Rwanda tribunal, and its ICTY branch began work on July 1, 2013. Both parties filed notices of appeal on March 22, 2018.
The proceedings were delayed several times. On December 18, 2017 Mladić sought a 150-day extension to file his notice of appeal, and the pre-appeal judge granted an extension on December 21, 2017. On June 18, 2018 he asked for the disqualification of three of the judges assigned to the appeal, and on September 3, 2018 the request was granted and replacement judges were assigned. The appellant's briefs were filed in August 2018, and response and reply briefs followed on November 14 and 29, 2018. The Mechanism's President later gave the causes of delay as the disqualification issue, Mladić's health, COVID-19 travel restrictions, and the death of one of the appeal judges in February 2021, who was replaced on February 18, 2021.
The Appeals Chamber heard oral submissions on August 25 and 26, 2020 in The Hague. Mladić's lawyers argued that he could not be held responsible for crimes committed by subordinates and asked for an acquittal or a retrial.
The five judges of the Appeals Chamber delivered their judgment on June 8, 2021. Their ruling, by count, was as follows. Count 1, genocide: the acquittal was affirmed by majority, with two judges dissenting. Count 2, genocide: the conviction was affirmed, with one judge dissenting. Counts 3 to 10, persecution, extermination, murder as a crime against humanity, murder as a violation of the laws or customs of war, deportation, inhumane acts (forcible transfer), terror, and unlawful attacks on civilians: affirmed, with the same judge dissenting. Count 11, taking of hostages: affirmed, with no dissent recorded. His appeal on the Hostage-taking enterprise was dismissed unanimously, and his appeals on the Overarching, Sarajevo and Srebrenica enterprises and on fair-trial grounds were dismissed with one judge dissenting. The Prosecution's appeal was dismissed in its entirety, with two judges dissenting. The life sentence was affirmed, with one judge dissenting. There were no reversals.
On Count 1 the Appeals Chamber considered the size of the targeted communities. It noted that the Bosnian Muslim communities in the municipalities concerned made up about 6.7 percent of the Bosnian Muslim group, and held that a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that this was not a substantial part of the group. The presiding judge told the court that the appeal was dismissed in its entirety, and the ruling could not be appealed further.
Widows and mothers of victims gathered outside the court as the judgment was delivered. The UN Secretary-General's spokesperson said accountability was an essential step toward reconciliation and urged those in positions of authority not to deny the crimes. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the outcome showed that the international justice system would pursue accountability no matter how long it took. The UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide said the ruling gave historical certainty to victims and warned that denial of genocide and glorification of convicted criminals persisted in the Western Balkans. A parent of a child killed in Sarajevo called for laws against the glorification of convicted war criminals. A political scientist welcomed most of the rulings but criticized the rejection of the Prosecution's appeal, arguing that the genocide was not limited to Srebrenica. A Serbian veteran said supporters would not abandon Mladić.
At the time of the appeal judgment the Mechanism's President told the Security Council that the Mechanism's residual work included supervising the enforcement of sentences, and that 15 UN Member States in Africa and Europe were then enforcing sentences of persons convicted by the tribunals. A convicted person remains in the Mechanism's custody until a State is designated to enforce the sentence. After June 8, 2021 Mladić remained in the Mechanism's custody in The Hague pending transfer to such a State. No State was designated before his death.
In April 2026 Mladić's defense applied to the President of the Mechanism for provisional or early release on humanitarian grounds, citing his poor health. The President ordered an independent medical assessment. In May 2026 she refused the application. She found that his medical care was being properly handled, that his family could already visit him, and that the high threshold for such releases had not been met.
A further application was decided on August 20, 2026. On that date the President denied the application for early release on compelling humanitarian grounds. She found that Mladić had served just over 15 years of his life sentence and had not reached the two-thirds point at which eligibility would ordinarily arise, that the care available to him in custody was comprehensive and respected his dignity, that family visits were already exceptional and the Registrar was directed to facilitate more, and that the purposes of a life sentence for international crimes weighed against release. She consulted five other judges of the Mechanism, of whom three would have denied the application and two would have granted it.
The Mechanism announced on August 27, 2026 that Ratko Mladić had died that day while hospitalized in The Hague. He was 84. The Mechanism said that at the time of his death he was awaiting transfer to a State for enforcement of the remainder of his sentence, and that the Medical Officer of its detention unit had been notified immediately. Dutch authorities commenced the standard procedures required under Dutch law, and on August 28, 2026 they confirmed that no criminal investigation would be opened.
On August 27 the President of the Mechanism ordered a full inquiry into the circumstances of his death and assigned it to a judge, who began work in The Hague on August 28. The Mechanism said that further details remained confidential at that time.
Reactions followed along the lines they had taken in 2017 and 2021. The head of the Srebrenica memorial urged people to remember the victims and not to glorify Mladić. A survivor who lost her husband and son in 1995 said justice had been served because he died in custody. Another survivor said the death did not bring closure because those killed could not return, and did not end the political and military projects behind the genocide. A human rights organization said the death was a reminder of the continuing need for justice, truth and reparations in the Western Balkans. The Bosnian Serb leader said Serbs respected Mladić.
The ICTY was established by the Security Council in 1993; Resolutions 808 and 827 are among the foundations of its Statute. It closed on December 31, 2017. The Mechanism was created by Resolution 1966 of December 22, 2010, which asked both the ICTY and the Rwanda tribunal to complete their remaining work by December 31, 2014 and gave the new institution their jurisdiction and essential functions. It has two branches, one for each tribunal, with the ICTY branch seated in The Hague and starting on July 1, 2013. Its initial period of operation was four years from the start of the first branch, with reviews every two years afterwards.
The judgments on Mladić rest on joint criminal enterprise as a mode of liability. The Trial Chamber found him to be a member of four enterprises, one overarching, one for Sarajevo, one for Srebrenica and one for the taking of hostages, and the indictment also charged him as a superior under Article 7(3) of the tribunal's Statute. The Chamber found that the Overarching enterprise aimed at the permanent removal of Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from claimed territory, and that genocide was not part of its objective. The genocide finding rested on the Srebrenica enterprise alone.
The Chamber's reasoning on the 1992 municipalities turned on the word substantial. It found the intent to destroy in several of them but concluded that the targeted Muslim communities were not a substantial part of the Bosnian Muslim group, and the Appeals Chamber held that a reasonable trier of fact could reach that conclusion. Terror, unlawful attacks on civilians, murder and the taking of hostages were charged as violations of the laws or customs of war; persecution, extermination, murder, deportation and inhumane acts were charged as crimes against humanity.
The case was heard over 530 trial days between May 2012 and December 2016. On appeal the same counts were affirmed, with the dissents recorded count by count.
Count 1 is the one count on which he was not convicted. Two judges of the Appeals Chamber dissented from the affirmation of that acquittal, and one judge dissented from the affirmation of Count 2, the other convictions and the sentence. The dissents do not alter the outcome.
The circumstances of his death are the subject of an inquiry by the Mechanism, which was ongoing on August 28, 2026, when the Mechanism said that further details remained confidential. Dutch authorities confirmed that no criminal investigation would be opened.
1942: Born in the Kalinovik area, Yugoslavia.
1991: Posted to lead the JNA's 9th Corps at Knin.
May 12, 1992: Appointed commander of the Main Staff of the Army of the Bosnian-Serb Republic (VRS).
June 1994: Promoted to General Colonel.
May 25 to June 24, 1995: Period of the hostage-taking enterprise.
July 11 to 17, 1995: Srebrenica; the Chamber finds that several thousands of men and boys were murdered, mostly between July 12 and 17.
July 24 and November 16, 1995: Indictments filed by the ICTY.
November 30, 1995: End of the period covered by the indictment.
May 26, 2011: Arrested in Lazarevo, Serbia.
May 27, 2011: Indictment reduced from 15 counts to 11.
May 31, 2011: Transferred to the ICTY in The Hague.
June 3, 2011: First appearance; no plea entered.
July 4, 2011: Pleas of not guilty entered on his behalf.
December 16, 2011: Operative indictment filed.
May 16, 2012: Trial opens; adjourned the next day over disclosure errors.
December 15, 2016: Closing arguments end.
November 22, 2017: Convicted on Counts 2 to 11, acquitted on Count 1; life imprisonment.
December 31, 2017: The ICTY closes.
August 25 and 26, 2020: Appeal hearing.
June 8, 2021: Appeals Chamber dismisses both appeals and affirms the life sentence.
April and May 2026: Application for early release; refused in May.
August 20, 2026: Second application for early release denied.
August 27, 2026: Dies in The Hague, aged 84, awaiting transfer to a State to serve the sentence.