Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Срби Босне и Херцеговине

M. Sokolović M.P. Sokolović F. Višnjić S. Milutinović 75x95px Šantić Dučić Kočić Ćorović 75x95px 75x95px Mitrinović Princip Stojanović Čolić Dalipagić Đinđić Kusturica Dodik
Total population
1,484,530 37.9% (1996)
Regions with significant populations
Republika Srpska 90+% Federation 2.3% ; Drvar 99.31% Bosansko Grahovo 94,91% Glamoč 79.29%
Languages
Serbian
Religion
Serbian Orthodox Christian, secular

The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina are people of Serb ethnicity inhabiting the Balkan regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or, since the establishment of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state in the 1990s, the Serbs who have its citizenship. The Serbs are one of the three constitutive nations of this state, predominantly residing in its political-territorial entity named Republika Srpska. They are frequently referred to as Bosnian Serbs in English, regardless of whether they are from Bosnia or Herzegovina.

Population[link]

The last 1996 UNHCR population census registered 1,484,530 Serbs or 37.9% of the total population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The modern estimate is that they form more likely about 37.1% (2000).^[1] The vast majority live on the territory of the Republika Srpska, and West Bosnia and Una-Sana cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnian Serbs are the most territorially widespread nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The majority of Bosnian Serbs are adherents of the Serbian Orthodox Church, while some are atheists. The Bosnian Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina speak the Serbian language in its Ijekavian accent, similar to that of Montenegro and Croatia. Their population is estimated to be around 1.5 million.

History[link]

Early Medieval[link]

The Slavs came to the Balkans during Justinian I rule (527–565), when eventually up to 100,000 Slavs raided Thessalonica. The Western Balkans was settled with Sclaveni (Sklavenoi), the east with Antes.^[2] In 577 some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum, pillaging cities and settling down.^[3]

According to 10th-century De Administrando Imperio, Serbs settled a part of present day Bosnia and Herzegovina during the rule of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (r. 610-641).^[4] Their leader, the Unknown Archont, was given lands that would subsequently evolve into principalities; Pagania, Zahumlje, Travunija, Duklja and Rascia.^[4] Bosnia, centered at river Bosona, was mentioned as one of the regions that were then under Serbian rule, in casu under Prince Časlav. Bosona had two inhabited cities; Kotor and Desnik.^[4] Herzegovina was part of Zahumlje and Travunija;^[4] present-day Canton 10, West Herzegovina, Herzegovina-Neretva and Trebinje Region.

The regions were constantly changing hands, as the Slavic nobles fought each other for the supreme rule.

Prince Višeslav, who managed to unite several provinces and tribes,^[5] directly ruled the hereditary lands (Županias) of Neretva, Tara, Piva, Lim.^[6][7] Višeslav ruled during Charlemagne (fl. 768-814)).^[8]

According to the Royal Frankish Annals (822), Pannonian Duke Ljudevit fled his seat in Sisak to the Serbs (during the rule of Radoslav or his son Prosigoj) who controlled a great part of Dalmatia ("Sorabos, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur").^[9][10]

Prince Vlastimir (r. 831-851), after defeating the Bulgars in the three-year Bulgarian–Serbian Wars (839-842), continued to expand to the west, taking southeast Bosnia and northeast Herzegovina (Hum).^[11][12] Vlastimir ensured further unity by marrying his daughter to Krajina Belojević, who gained the title of Prince of Trebinje.^[4][12]

During the rule of Mutimir (r. 851-891), the Serbs were Christianized. Serbia became an important Byzantine ally; The fleets of Zahumlje, Travunia and Konavli (Serbian Pomorje) were sent to fight the Saracens who attacked the town of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) in 869, on the immediate request of Basil I, who was asked by the Ragusians for help.^[13]

Prince Petar (r. 892-917), defeated Tišemir of Bosnia, annexing the valley of Bosna.^[14] He continues taking the Neretva, annexing the Narentines, where he seems to have come into conflict with Michael, a Bulgarian vassal ruling Zahumlje (with Travunia and Duklja).^[15]

Časlav's realm

The golden age of Serbs in the early Middle Ages comes with Prince Časlav (r. 927-960), who managed to include all former territories; He concluded a voluntary confederation with the chiefs of Bosnia that brought them out of Venetian-Croatia's control. With other Slavic principalities of Zahumlje, Pagania, Travunia, Duklja and Raška, Časlav established a state that encompassed the shores of the Adriatic Sea, the Sava river and the Morava valley as well as today's northern Albania. Časlav defeated the Magyars and their ruler Kisa on the banks of river Drina when protecting Bosnia, however, in the second battle against the Magyars, Časlav was hurt in battle, captured and thrown to drown together with his fellow Serbian warriors, in the Sava.^[16]

The Serbian rule in westernmost Bosnia crumbled after Časlav's fall. It would take King Constantine Bodin and war against the Byzantines in 1082-1085 to restore it. There he installed Stefan of Bosnia as Ban.^[17][18]

Ottoman Era[link]

After the Ottomans occupied Bosnia in the 15th century, many Serbs from east Herzegovina migrated up north and to the Bosnian frontier, the Bosnian Krajina, in the west.

Austro-Hungarian Era[link]

In 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina became a protectorate of Austria-Hungary, which the Serbs strongly opposed. On June 28, 1914, Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip made international headlines after assassinating Arch Duke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo. This sparked World War I leading to Austria-Hungary's defeat and the incorporation of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

World War II[link]

During the Second World War, Bosnian Serbs were put under the rule of the fascist Ustaša regime in the Independent State of Croatia. Under Ustaša rule Serbs along with Jews and Roma people, were subjected to systematic genocide, known as the Serbian genocide, where hundreds of thousands of civilian Serbs were murdered.^[19]

Between 1945 and 1948, following World War II, approximately 70,000 Serbs migrated from the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Vojvodina after the Germans had left. Serbs were the larger of the two constitutive nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina (later the second largest of three, when Bosniaks, then known as Muslims by nationality, gained constitutive status in 1968).

• In the first population census conducted in the People's Republic of Bosnia in 1948, there were 1,136,116 Serbs for a total of 44.3% of BiH's population
• In 1953, there were 1,264,372 Serbs in BiH, equaling 44.4% of the total population.
• In the 1961 population census, there were 1,406,057 Serbs, accounting for 42.9% of the total population of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnian War[link]

Radovan Karadžić, the first president of Republika Srpska.

The distribution of the three main ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1991 by municipalities. Bosnian Serbs are shown in red, Bosniaks in green, and Bosnian Croats in blue. The post-Dayton Inter-Entity Boundary Line is shown in white.

After the government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence, which was not accepted by the federal Serb controlled government of Yugoslavia, the Serbian Autonomous Area of the Bosnian Frontier was formed in the western Bosnian Frontier region of Bosnia and Herzegovina with its capital in Banja Luka, which was not recognised by the central government. SAO Bosnian Frontier made attempts to unite with the Autonomous Region of the Serbian Frontier in Croatia. The Serb political leadership martialled its own force assisted by the Yugoslav People's Army and declared independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina in late 1992. During this period there was notable support for the idea of a Greater Serbia being made reality, both within Bosnia and in Serbia proper. This ideology advocated the joining of Serb-populated regions into a contiguous territory. BiH's Bosniak and Bosnian Croat dominated government did not recognize the new Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose president was Radovan Karadžić seated in Banja Luka.^{[citation needed]} The Serb side accepted the proposed ethnic cantonization of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Carrington-Cutileiro peace plan), as did the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat sides in Lisbon in 1992, in the hope that war would not break out. The Bosniak political leadership under President Alija Izetbegović of Bosnia and Herzegovina subsequently revoked the agreement refusing to decentralize the newly created country based on ethnic lines. The Bosnian War began.

Throughout most of the war the Serbs fought against both the Bosniaks and the Bosnian Croats. During Bosniak-Croat hostilities the Serbs co-operated largely with the Croats. There were exceptions to this however, as Serb forces were also allied with the pro-Yugoslav Bosniaks of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia under Fikret Abdić. Serb forces also carried out ethnic cleansing operations against non-Serbs living within their territory, the most formidable was the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995. However, many Serbs also were targets of atrocities during the war. During most of the war, the Serb Republic comprised around 70% of Bosnia and Herzegovina's soil. During the entire length of war the Army of the Serb Republic maintained the Siege of Sarajevo, allegedly in order to tie down the Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) forces and resources in what was the capital of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian state. Serb Republic maintained close ties with the Republic of the Serb Frontier and received volunteers and supplies from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the war. The Serb Republic received a large number of Serb refugees from other Yugoslav hotzones, particularly non-Serb held areas in Sarajevo, Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatia. In 1993, the Owen-Stoltenberg peace treaty was suggested that would give 52% of BiH to the Serb side. It was refused by the Bosniak side as too large of a concession.

In 1994, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia imposed sanctions after the National Assembly of the Serb Republic refused the Vance-Owen peace plan. In 1995, Operation Storm eliminated the Republic of the Serb Frontier. The Croatian Army continued the offensive into the Serb Republic under General Ante Gotovina (convicted of War Crimes by the ICTY and sentenced to 24 years). Some 250,000 Serbs fled to the Serb Republic and Serbia from Croatia, as the Serb side continued a full retreat of Serbs from the Una to the Sana river. The Croatian Army, supported by the forces of the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina came within 20 km of the de facto Bosnian Serb capital, Banja Luka. The war was halted with the Dayton Peace Agreement which recognized Republika Srpska, comprising 49% of the soil of BiH, as one of the two territorial entities of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serb side suffered a total 30,700 victims - 16,700 civilians and 14,000 military personnel, according to the Demographic Unit at the ICTY. Although exact numbers are disputed, it is generally agreed that the Bosnian War claimed the lives of about 200,000 people - Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs. More reliable numbers place the number of deceased during the war at around 100,000-104,000 (ICTY, 2011).See: Casualties of the Bosnian War

The demographics of Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as Republika Srpska were tremendously affected by the war. Current estimates indicate that some 400,000 Serbs no longer live in the Federation of BiH. By the same token, it is estimated that some 450,000 Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Bosnian Croats that used to live in Republika Srpska no longer live there. Many Bosnian Serbs emigrated abroad to Canada, the United States, Australia, western Europe, Serbia and Montenegro.

Culture[link]

The Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina use regional names among each other, such as the wider: Frontiersmen (Krajišniks), Semberians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians.

A part of the Bosnian Serbs trace their origins in some of the Serb clans.

Folk attire[link]

Music[link]

A Herzegovinian sings to the gusle (drawing from 1823). Serbian epic poems were often sung to the accompaniment of this traditional bowed string instrument.

Status of Serbs outside Republika Srpska[link]

Glamoč[link]

Serbian schoolchildren in Glamoč, a municipality which is of Serb majority under the local government of Canton 10 based in Livno (which is of Croat majority), are still denied schooling in the Serbian language, instead, the school teaches in the Croatian language (2010).^[20]

The municipality of Glamoč has asked the government to return hundreds of hectars of land that have been taken from ethnic Serbs and has become the land of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They sent a plea beginning in 2006, with more than 187 suits, seeking return of lands, restoration of destroyed land and objects, but the government has declined. Some 2,000 Serbs are in very low state, without any jobs, and this is a way to fix the problem, says Radovan Marković, head of the Glamoč municipality.^[21]

References[link]

Ratko Mladić Ратко Младић
Mladić at Sarajevo airport in 1993
Born	(1942-03-12) 12 March 1942 (age 70) Božanovići, Kalinovik, Independent State of Croatia (today's Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Allegiance	SFR Yugoslavia Republic of Serbian Krajina  Republika Srpska
Service/branch	Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) Army of Republika Srpska (VRS)
Years of service	1965–1995
Rank	Colonel General
Commands held	9th Corps (JNA) 2nd Military District Headquarters (JNA) Head of the VRS General Staff
Battles/wars	Croatian War Operation Coast-91 Bosnian War Siege of Sarajevo Operation Corridor Operations Krivaja '95 and Stupčanica '95
Awards	Order of Brotherhood and Unity (II) Order of Military Merits (III) Order of Military Merits (II) Order of the People's Army (II)

Ratko Mladić (Serbian Cyrillic: Ратко Младић, pronounced [râtkɔ mlǎːditɕ]; born 12 March 1942)^[1][2][3] is a Bosnian Serb former military leader accused of committing war crimes. On 31 May 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).^[4] His trial began on 3 June 2011.

Mladić came to prominence in the Yugoslav Wars, initially as a high-ranking officer of the Yugoslav People's Army and subsequently as the Chief of Staff of the Army of the Republika Srpska (the Bosnian Serb Army) in the Bosnian War of 1992–1995. In 1995, he was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As the top military general with command responsibility, Mladić was accused by the ICTY of being responsible for the 1992–1995 Siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre^[5]—the largest mass murder in Europe since the immediate aftermath of World War II. He has often been referred to by Western media as the "Butcher of Bosnia,"^[6][7][8] a title also sometimes applied to Radovan Karadžić, the former President of Republika Srpska.^[9][10][11]

In July 1996 the Trial Chamber of the ICTY, proceeding in the absence of Mladić under the ICTY's Rule 61, confirmed all counts of the original indictments, finding there were reasonable grounds to believe he had committed the alleged crimes, and issued an international arrest warrant.^[12] Serbia and the United States offered €5 million for information leading to Mladić's capture and arrest.^[13] In October 2010, Serbia intensified the hunt by increasing the reward for Mladić's capture from €5 million to €10 million.^[14] Serbia also asked Interpol for help in locating the fugitive.^[15] Mladić nevertheless managed to remain at large for nearly sixteen years; on 26 May 2011, Serbian security forces arrested him in Lazarevo, Serbia.^[16] His capture was considered to be one of the pre-conditions for Serbia being awarded candidate status for European Union membership.^[17][18]

A long-time member of the Yugoslav Communist Party, Mladić began his career in the Yugoslav People's Army in 1965 and had an undistinguished career in Communist Yugoslavia until the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars in 1991.^[19][20]

Early life and military career[link]

Mladić was born in the village of Božanovići located near Mount Treskavica, southeast of Sarajevo, in the municipality of Kalinovik west of Goražde (43°37′55″N 18°42′50″E / 43.63194°N 18.71389°E / 43.63194; 18.71389)^[21] on 12 March 1942.^[22] His father Neđa (1909–1945) was a member of the Yugoslav Partisans, and his mother Stana (née Lalović; 1919–2003) raised the three children by herself; daughter Milica (b. 1940), sons Ratko and Milivoje (1944–2001), after the death of the father. Bosnia and Herzergovina was at the time part of the short-lived Independent State of Croatia, a fascist puppet-state led by the Ustasha, created after Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy invaded and partitioned the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941. Mladić's father was killed while leading a partisan attack on the home village of Ante Pavelić in 1945.^[23]

Upon finishing elementary school, Mladić worked in Sarajevo as a whitesmith in the "Tito company". He entered the Military Industry School in Zemun in 1961, and then went on to the KOV Military Academy, and then Officers Academy. Upon his graduating on 27 September 1965, he started his work in the Yugoslav Army. The same year, he joined the Yugoslav Communist Party, remaining a member until the party disintegrated in 1990.^[19] He began his first post as an officer in Skopje on 4 November 1965, where he was the youngest soldier in the unit which he commanded. Beginning with the rank of second lieutenant (April 1968), he proved himself to be a capable officer, first commanding a platoon (May 1970), then a battalion (27 November 1974), and then a brigade. In September 1976, he began his higher military education at the "Komandno-štabne akademije" in Belgrade, finishing in first place with a grade of 9,57 (out of 10). On 25 December 1980, he became a Lieutenant colonel, and in 18 August 1986 he became a colonel, based in Štip. He finished an additional year of military education in September 1986. On 31 January 1989, he was promoted to the post of head of the Education Department of the Third Military District of Skopje.^[24] On 14 January 1991, he was once more promoted, as Deputy Commander in Priština.

Role in the Yugoslav wars[link]

In June 1991, Mladić was promoted to Deputy Commander of the Pristina Corps in Kosovo at a time of high tension between Serbs and Kosovo's majority Albanian population. That year, Mladić was given command of the 9th Corps of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), and led this formation against Croatian forces in Knin, the capital of the self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina.^[25] On 4 October 1991, he was promoted to Major General. The JNA forces under his command participated in the Croatian War, notably during Operation Coast-91 in an attempt to cut of Dalmatia from the rest of Croatia, which resulted in a stalemate (Croatia held entire coastline near Zadar and Šibenik, while Serb Krajina expanded its territory in the hinterland). Among other early operations, Mladić aided Milan Martić's militia overtake the village of Kijevo.

General Mladić (centre) arrives for UN-mediated talks at Sarajevo airport, June 1993.

On 24 April 1992, Mladić was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel General. On 2 May 1992, one month after the Bosnian Republic's declaration of independence, Mladić and his generals blockaded the city of Sarajevo, shutting off all traffic in and out of the city, as well as water and electricity. This began the four-year Siege of Sarajevo, the longest siege in the history of modern warfare. The city was bombarded with shells and sniper shooting. On 9 May 1992, he assumed the post of Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander of the Second Military District Headquarters of the JNA in Sarajevo. The next day, Mladić assumed the command of the Second Military District Headquarters of the JNA.

On 12 May 1992, in response to Bosnia's secession from Yugoslavia, the Bosnian Serb Parliament voted to create the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS, in short). At the same time, Mladić was appointed Commander of the Main Staff of the VRS, a position he held until December 1996. In May 1992, after the withdrawal of JNA forces from Bosnia, the JNA Second Military District became the nucleus of the Main Staff of the VRS. On 24 June 1994, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel General over approximately 80,000 troops stationed in the area.

In July 1995, troops commanded by Mladić, harried by NATO air strikes intended to force compliance with a UN ultimatum to remove heavy weapons from the Sarajevo area, overran and occupied the UN safe areas of Srebrenica and Žepa. At Srebrenica over 40,000 Bosniaks who had sought safety there were expelled. An estimated 8,300 were murdered, allegedly on Mladić's order.^[26][27] In November 1995, when Judge Fouad Riad indicted Mladić of genocide in Srebrenica at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague (ICTY), he stated that the events were "Truly scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history".^[28]

On 4 August 1995, with a huge Croatian military force poised to attack the Serb-held region in central Croatia, Radovan Karadžić announced he was removing Mladić from his post and assuming personal command of the VRS himself. Karadžić blamed Mladić for the loss of two key Serb towns in western Bosnia that had recently fallen to the Croatian army, and he used the loss of the towns as an excuse to announce his surprising changes in the command structure.^[29] Mladić was demoted to an "adviser". He refused to go quietly, claiming the support of both the Bosnian Serb military as well as the people. Karadžić countered by denouncing Mladić as a "madman" and attempting to remove his political rank, but Mladić's obvious popular support forced Karadžić to rescind his order on 11 August.^[30]

On 8 November 1996, the President of the Bosnian Serb Republic, Biljana Plavšić, dismissed Mladić from his post. He continued to receive a pension until November 2005.^[31]

Indictment by the ICTY[link]

On 24 July 1995, Mladić was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide, crimes against humanity, and numerous war crimes (including crimes relating to the alleged sniping campaign against civilians in Sarajevo). On 16 November 1995, the charges were expanded to include charges of war crimes for the attack on the UN-declared safe area of Srebrenica in July 1995. A fugitive from the ICTY, he was suspected to be hiding either in Serbia or in Republika Srpska. Mladić was reportedly seen attending a football match between China and Yugoslavia in Belgrade in March 2000. He entered through a VIP entrance and sat in a private box surrounded by eight armed bodyguards. There were claims that he had been seen in a suburb of Moscow, and that he "regularly" visited Thessaloniki and Athens, which raised suspicions that numerous fake reports were sent to cover his trail. Some reports said that he took refuge in his wartime bunker in Han Pijesak, not far from Sarajevo, or in Montenegro.^[25] In early February 2006, portions of a Serbian military intelligence report were leaked to the Serbian Newspaper Politika which stated that Mladić had been hidden in Army of Republika Srpska and Yugoslav People's Army facilities up until 1 June 2002, when the National Assembly of Serbia passed a law mandating cooperation with the ICTY in The Hague.^[32] The then-Chief General of the Yugoslav Army Nebojša Pavković requested that Mladić vacate the facility where he was staying on mountain Povlen, near Valjevo, after which the Serb military agencies claim to have lost all trace of him.

Mladić had gone into hiding after the arrest of Slobodan Milošević in 2001, after having lived freely in Serbia.^[33]

In 2004, Paddy Ashdown, at the time the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, removed the 58 officials from their post due to suspicions that they helped war crimes suspects including Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić to evade capture. Some officials were subjected to travel bans and had their bank accounts frozen. The ban was later lifted after the capture of Mladić.^[34]

In November 2004, British defence officials conceded that military action was unlikely to be successful in bringing Mladić and other suspects to trial. One winter’s day British UN troops carrying side arms were confronted by the general skiing down the piste at Sarajevo’s former Olympic skiing resort but made no move for their guns; skiing behind Mladić were four bodyguards. Despite his Hague warrant, they decided to carry on skiing. NATO later sent commandos to arrest various war crimes suspects, but Mladić simply went underground. No amount of NATO action or UN demands, or even a $5 million bounty announced by Washington, could bring him in.^[35]

It was revealed in December 2004 that the Army of Republika Srpska had been harboring and protecting Ratko Mladić until the summer of 2004, despite repeated and public pleas to collaborate with the ICTY and apprehend war criminals. On 6 December, NATO said that Mladić visited his wartime bunker during the summer in order to celebrate the Army of Republika Srpska-day.^[32]

In June 2005 The Times newspaper alleged that Mladić had demanded a $5 million (£2.75 million) "compensation" to be given to his family and bodyguards if he gave himself up to the ICTY in the Hague.

In January 2006, the Belgrade court indicted 10 people for aiding Mladić in hiding from 2002 to January 2006. An investigation showed Mladić spent his time in New Belgrade, a suburb of the capital.^[32]

It was erroneously reported on 21 February 2006 that Mladić had been arrested in Belgrade and was being transferred via the northeastern Bosnian city of Tuzla to the ICTY war tribunal.^[36] The arrest was denied by the Serbian government. The government did not deny rumors of a planned negotiated surrender between Mladić and Serbian Special Forces. Romanian government and Serbian sources claimed on 22 February 2006 that Mladić was arrested in Romania, near Drobeta-Turnu Severin, close to the Serbian border by a joint Romanian-British special operation carried out by troops of those respective countries.^[37] However, ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte denied the rumors that Mladić had been arrested, saying that they had "absolutely no basis whatsoever". She urged the Serbian government to find him without further delay, saying that Mladić was in reach of the Serbian authorities and had been in Serbia since 1998. She said that failure to capture him would harm Serbia's bid to join the European Union (EU). The 1 May 2006 deadline established by Del Ponte for Serbia to hand over Mladić passed, resulting in talks between Serbia and the EU being suspended. The EU considered Mladić's arrest, along with full cooperation with the ICTY, preconditions that had to be met before Serbia could join the organization.^[38]

In July 2008, Serbian officials voiced concern that Ratko Mladić would order or had ordered his bodyguards to kill him to prevent him from being captured to face trial.^[39]

Conjecture of possible death[link]

On 16 June 2010, the family of Ratko Mladić filed a request to declare him dead citing that he was in poor health and has been absent for seven years.^[40] If the declaration had been approved Mladić's wife would have been able to collect a state pension and sell his property.^[17] The request was rejected by the Serbian authorities.^[41]

Opinion polls[link]

According to the March 2009 poll of the NGO Strategic Marketing for the television station B92, 14.29% of Serbia's citizens would reveal information that would lead to his arrest in exchange for €1 million, 20.57% do not have a determined attitude, and 65.14% would not divulge information for one million Euros (the poll was conducted when the United States embassy issued a reward of 1.3 million Euros for any information on Ratko Mladić).^[42] However, it has been noted that the formulation of the question may have been a problem, as the polling samples which opted "No" included also those who would immediately report Mladić without payment, believing that payment in this case is immoral. Although preceding reports indicated that 47% supported the extradition, it is now apparent that most of the population is against it.^[43]

According to a poll conducted by the National Committee for Cooperation with the ICTY, 78 percent of those polled would not report Mladić to the authorities, 34 percent said they would approve of Mladić's arrest, while 40 percent believe he is a hero.^[44]

Videos of Mladić[link]

On 11 June 2009, a Bosnian television station aired videos of Ratko Mladić, filmed over the past 10 years.^[45] The last video that was featured in the show "60 Minuta" showed Mladić with two women, allegedly filmed in the winter of 2008. However, no evidence for this was given by television presenters. Serbia has stated that it was "impossible" for the videos to have been filmed in 2008. Rasim Ljajić, Serbia's minister in charge of co-operation with the UN tribunal, confirmed that the footage was old and had already been handed over to the ICTY in March 2009.

He also said that "the last known footage was taken eight years ago. The last time Mladić was in military premises was at the Krcmari army barracks near (the western Serbian town of) Valjevo on 1 June 2002." The previously unseen images show Mladić in various restaurants and apartments and at what appears to be military barracks in Serbia, almost always accompanied by his wife Bosa and son Darko.^[46]

Arrest and trial[link]

Ratko Mladić was arrested on 26 May 2011 in Lazarevo, near Zrenjanin in the Banat region in northern Serbia. His arrest was carried out by two dozen Serbian special police officers wearing black uniforms and masks, and sporting no insignia. The police were accompanied by Security Information Agency and War Crimes Prosecutor's Office agents. The officers entered the village in four jeeps in the early morning hours, while most residents were still asleep. They pulled up to four houses simultaneously, each owned by Mladić's relatives. Mladić was about to venture into the yard for a walk after being awakened by pain, when four officers jumped over the fence and broke into the house just as he moved toward the door, grabbing Mladić, forcing him to the floor, and demanding he identify himself. Mladić identified himself correctly, and surrendered two pistols he had been carrying. He was then taken to Belgrade.^[47][48] Mladić was arrested in the house of his cousin Branislav Mladić, at the Ul. Vuka Karadžića 2.^[49] Branislav had been identified as a possible suspect at least two months before, and had been under surveillance right up to his arrest. After initial doubt as to the identity of the arrested man, Serbian President Boris Tadić confirmed that it was Mladić at a press conference and announced that the process of extraditing him to the ICTY was underway. Mladić had been using the pseudonym "Milorad Komadić" while in hiding.^[50] Mladić was not wearing a beard or any disguise. His appearance reportedly showed he had "aged considerably", and one of his arms was paralyzed due to a series of strokes.^[51]

Following his arrest, Mladić appeared before the Belgrade Higher Court for a hearing on whether he was fit to be extradited to the Hague. Judge Milan Dilparić suspended interrogation due to his poor health. Mladić's lawyer Miloš Šaljić said that his poor health prevented him from properly communicating. He was allegedly unable to confirm his personal data, but attempted to talk to the prosecutors on several occasions, especially to Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Bruno Vekarić.^[52] However, the court ruled that he was fit to be extradited on 27 May. According to the Serbian Health Ministry, a team of prison doctors described his health as stable following checkups. Mladić was also visited in prison by Health Minister Zoran Stanković, a former friend.^[53]Mladić's trial formally opened in The Hague on May 16, 2012^[54].

Family[link]

Mladić married Bosiljka "Bosa" and they had two children; son Darko and daughter Ana. Ana died on 24 March 1994, aged 23, in an apparent suicide.^[55]

Mladić became a grandfather when his son Darko had a daughter, Anastasija, in 2001.^{[citation needed]} A grandson, Stefan, was born in 2006.^{[citation needed]}

Daughter's suicide[link]

There were conflicting reports in various Serbian publications regarding Ana's death and the discovery of her body. Some media said that her body was found in her blood-splattered bedroom, while others claim it was found in a nearby park or in the woods near the Topčider cemetery. However, it was concluded that she had used her father's handgun, which he had been awarded at military school in his youth. There are also conflicting opinions on the cause of the decision to commit suicide. She may have read about the war atrocities attributed to her father in the newspapers.^[56]

Ratko himself said she had been killed by his enemies. Most people that knew Ratko personally, said that his daughter's death transformed him into "a bloodthirsty maniac". One of his former commanders told Newsweek magazine: "Some people think he went mad. Mladic’s life had two phases – before and after the death of Ana. He never recovered. He was a broken man." Upon his arrest, he was allowed to leave his cell and visit the grave of his daughter where he spent a few minutes.^[57]

See also[link]

• Bosnian Genocide

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ratko Mladić

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ratko Mladić

• The Madness of General Mladic
• Ratko Mladić at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Ratko Mladić in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Ratko Mladić collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Ratko Mladić collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Ratko Mladić collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Ratko Mladić collected legal news at JURIST

Articles

• Mladic and Fikret Abdic (not working)
• Sarajevo bombing 28 May 1992 (not working)