‘Butcher of Bosnia’ will never leave jail
BOSNIAN Muslims who lost loved ones in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre say no punishment would be enough for Ratko Mladic, the ex-Bosnian Serb wartime commander jailed for life for genocide.
Mladic, dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia”, was convicted yesterday following a five-year trial at a UN tribunal in The Hague on 10 counts of war crimes including the siege of Sarajevo in which over 10,000 civilians died from shelling and sniper attacks, and the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of non-Serbs during the 1992-95 conflict.
“Can there ever be adequate punishment for someone who committed so many crimes? It would be too many even for 300 years,” said Vasva Smajlovic, 74, referring to the Srebrenica slaughter in July 1995.
Her husband, son-in-law and other relatives were among the 8000 Muslim men and boys taken away and shot dead execution-style after Mladic assured UN peacekeepers and local residents that no harm would befall them after his forces seized the town.
“I try to count my dead all the time. I count to 50 and then I’m not able to count any more,” Ms Smajlovic said tearfully while watching a live telecast of the Mladic verdict.
“No words can describe how I feel. I am angry. All this comes too late.”
Mladic orchestrated the worst European massacre since the Second World War. But he maintained his contempt for the hearing, grinning as he walked into court and giving a thumbs up.
He disrupted the hearing for more than half an hour by asking for a toilet break. When he returned, his lawyers asked the case to be stopped because of his high blood pressure. The request was denied.
The former warlord then stood up and repeatedly shouted “this is all lies” before being removed from the courtroom. The verdicts were read in his absence, while he watched on a television screen in a neighbouring room.
Judge Alphons Orie said: “The crimes rank among the most heinous known to humankind.”