Serb general guilty of Bosnia war genocide

The Hague: Justice catches up with Mladic for 1990s massacres

Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, whose forces carried out the worst massacre in Europe since World War II, has been convicted of genocide and other crimes and sentenced to life behind bars.

Mladic, defiant to the last, was ejected from a courtroom at the United Nations’ Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague after yelling at judges: “Everything you said is pure lies. Shame on you!” He was sent to a neighbouring room to watch on TV as presiding judge Alphons Orie pronounced him guilty of 10 counts that also included war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Human rights organisations hailed the convictions as proof that even top military brass long considered untouchable cannot evade justice forever. Mladic spent years on the run before his arrest in 2011.

“This landmark verdict marks a significant moment for international justice and sends out a powerful message around the world that impunity cannot and will not be tolerated,” said John Dalhuisen, Am- nesty International’s Europe director.

For prosecutors, it was a fitting end to a 23-year effort to mete out justice at the UN tribunal for atrocities committed during the Balkan wars of the early 1990s. But Mladic’s attorneys vowed to appeal against his convictions on 10 charges related to atrocities in the 1992-95 Bosnian

“Sends powerful message that impunity cannot be tolerated”

war. Judge Orie started the hearing by reading out horrors perpetrated by forces under Mladic’s control.

“Detainees were forced to rape and engage in other degrading sexual acts with one another. Many Bosnian Muslim women who were unlawfully detained were raped,” Orie said.

The war reached its bloody climax in Srebrenica as Bosnian Serb forces overran what was supposed to be a UN-protected safe haven, and murdered 8,000 Muslim males.

RAGE: Former general Ratko Mladic yells at judges after the verdict is announced