'Butcher of Bosnia' given life sentence in disputed trial

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Former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic was found guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during Bosnia's 1992-95 war, the UN tribunal on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia delivered the verdict in The Hague on Wednesday.

Mladic, 74, was sentenced to life imprisonment after the historic trial and is expected to launch an appeal. "It is certain we will file an appeal and the appeal will be successful," attorney Dragan Ivetic of his legal team told journalists.

Mladic, seen as a national hero by some Serbs, faced 11 charges in total and has been on trial since 2012. He pleaded not guilty to all of them. The court convicted him on 10 out of 11 counts of crimes.

Ex-Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic appears in court at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands, November 22, 2017. /Reuters Photo

"For having committed these crimes, the chamber sentences Mr. Ratko Mladic to life imprisonment," presiding judge Alphons Orie said, adding the crimes were "amongst the most heinous known to human kind."

The former Bosnian Serb commander, also known as "Butcher of Bosnia," was accused of ordering the massacre at Srebrenica which left 8,000 Muslim men and boys dead, the worst in Europe since World War Two.

Defense lawyers slam 'political' trial

After rumors he would not attend the hearing, the former general gave a thumbs-up as he entered the courtroom. But in extraordinary scenes he was ordered to be dragged from the court, when in an outburst he accused the judges of lying, after they refused to adjourn because he had high-blood pressure.

Ex-Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic reacts in court at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands, November 22, 2017. /ICTY Screenshot via Reuters

"The circumstances were brutal. Those who tried to defend their homes were met with ruthless force. Mass executions occurred and some victims succumbed after being beaten," Orie said, outlining the facts of the case against Mladic. "Many of the perpetrators who had captured Bosnian Muslims showed little or no respect for human life, or dignity."

Wednesday's verdict has been long awaited by tens of thousands of victims across the bitterly-divided region, and dozens gathered early outside the courtroom in The Hague.

Caught after 16 years on the run in 2011, Mladic was found guilty of the 1995 massacre in northeastern Srebrenica. He was also found guilty of "personally directing" a 44-month campaign of sniping and shelling to terrorize citizens in Bosnia's capital Sarajevo, which left about 10,000 dead.

A family reacts after the trial of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic in front of the court at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands, November 22, 2017. /Reuters Photo

During the five-year trial, almost 600 witnesses testified and more than 10,000 exhibits were presented.

Defense lawyers, who in the past few days filed a flurry of requests to have their ailing client's health assessed, have slammed his trial as "political," calling for an acquittal.

UN hails 'momentous victory for justice'

The genocide conviction of Mladic is a "momentous victory for justice," the United Nations said Wednesday, calling the former Bosnian Serbian commander "the epitome of evil."

"Today's verdict is a warning to the perpetrators of such crimes that they will not escape justice, no matter how powerful they may be nor how long it may take. They will be held accountable," UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said in a statement.

Mothers of victims pose with photos during the trial of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic before a court at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands, November 22, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The verdict was a "milestone" for international justice, the chief Yugoslav war crimes prosecutor said.

"Today's judgment is a milestone in the tribunal's history and for international justice. Mladic was one of the first persons to be indicted by this office and the last to be convicted," chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz told reporters.

However, Mladic is still seen as a national hero by some Serbs for presiding over the swift capture of 70 percent of Bosnia after its Serbs rose up against a Muslim-Croat declaration of independence from Yugoslavia.

Prosecutors said the ultimate plan pursued by Mladic, Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic was to purge Bosnia of non-Serbs and carve out a "Greater Serbia" in the ashes of federal Yugoslavia's disintegration.

Karadzic was convicted in 2016 and sentenced to 40 years, and is appealing.

Bosnian victims and families said they were "partially satisfied" with a guilty verdict for Mladic.

"I'm partially satisfied. It's more than for (Radovan) Karadzic. But they didn't find him guilty for the accusation of genocide in some villages," said Munira Subasic, president of the Mothers of Srebrenica association.

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters