Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, masterminds of Bosnian genocide

By Talha Ozturk and Faruk Zorlu

BELGRADE, Serbia / ANKARA (AA) - Masterminds of the Bosnian genocide Radovan Karadzic, and Ratko Mladic executed the most well-documented and widely known genocide and crimes against humanity in Europe after World War II.

Both were brought to justice for their role in the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

- Radovan Karadzic

Radovan Karadzic was president of the self-styled Bosnian Serb Republic and supreme commander of its armed forces between 1992 and 1995 when around 100,000 Bosnians died as the former Yugoslavia descended into ethnic bloodshed.

Karadzic was first indicted in July 1995 for the shooting of unarmed civilians in Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage. Four months later, he was accused of orchestrating the slaughter of 8,000 Muslim men and boys after Serb forces seized the UN’s Srebrenica “safe area” in eastern Bosnia.

He went on the run after the war, and was finally arrested in Belgrade in 2008.

During his trials at a UN tribunal in The Hague, more than 580 witnesses gave testimony of crimes such as murder of Muslims and Croats, and destruction of private property and mosques across Bosnia.

He was charged with 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica genocide, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II.

In 2016, Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity relating to the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

He filed an appeal seeking an acquittal or retrial. Following the closure of the former Yugoslav tribunal in 2017, the Council of Appeal of the International Criminal Courts Mechanism took over the ongoing cases.

The council in 2019 sentenced Karadzic, 73, to life in prison for genocide, crimes against humanity, and violating the laws and customs of war. The appeal of his 40-year prison sentence was also rejected.

While the court convicted Karadzic over his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, he was found not guilty of genocide in seven other Bosnian towns.

Apart from his single genocide conviction, he was also found guilty on five counts of crimes against humanity and four war crimes charges, including taking UN soldiers hostage, exterminating civilians, murders, and attacking soldiers.

- 'Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko Mladic

Ratko Mladic – dubbed the "Butcher of Bosnia" – was once Europe's most-wanted man after his role in the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

Mladic was commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, which was established in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the beginning of the country’s civil war amid the breakup of Yugoslavia.

He and the forces under his command were linked to the genocide committed in Bosnia, particularly in Srebrenica after Serb forces overran an enclave supposed to be under the protection of UN peacekeepers.

However, Mladic is also known for his forces’ bloody 1,425-day siege of Sarajevo, the longest of a capital city in the history of modern warfare.

After the end of the war with the Dayton Accords of Nov. 21, 1995, Mladic became a fugitive for over a decade.

A 15-year manhunt ended in 2011 when Mladic was found and handed over to The Hague tribunal for trial.

Mladic's trial began on May 16, 2012 and ended with summations in Dec. 2016.

The more-than-500-day trial called 591 witnesses and saw nearly 10,000 pieces of evidence accepted by the court.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague in 2017, unanimously found Mladic guilty of culpability in the Srebrenica murders, which took place towards the end of the country's brutal three-year civil war.

Mladic was found guilty of 10 of the 11 items in the indictment.

He faced two counts of genocide, among other crimes, but although the court found him guilty over his role in Srebrenica, he was found not guilty of genocide in six other Bosnian municipalities.

He was also convicted of a string of crimes against humanity, including persecution, extermination, murder, murder as a violation of the laws of war, and forced deportations.

The 78-year-old appealed his conviction for genocide and crimes against humanity at a court in The Hague, which was rejected.