Convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić has died in a UN prison at The Hague aged 84.

📻 Breaking It Down

He was jailed for life in 2017 for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the wars in the former Yugoslaviain 1992-95.

After the Bosnian war, he went on the run for 16 years until he was finally tracked down in rural Serbia in 2011 and put on trialin the Dutch city.

The sentence for the man known as the “Butcher of Bosnia” was upheld on appeal by the UN court in 2021. He was being given palliative care in the hospital of the UN detention facility, where he died.

📌 What You Need to Know

In a statement confirming the death on Thursday, the UN Court said Dutch authorities have begun an investigation.

It added that the court’s top judge”has ordered a full inquiry into the circumstances” of Mladić’s death.

In May, the court rejected a bid for his release from jail as he was nearing the end of his life.

The judge agreed his situation was “dire” but ruled that he was receiving “comprehensive and compassionate treatment” in prison.

Mladić’s lawyers said at the time that he had already been bedbound or in a wheelchair for a long time and later had suffered a suspected stroke that left him almost unable to speak.

Mladić – who never recognised the UN court – had been held at The Hague detention facility since 2011.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya