War Crimes Tribunal finds Ratko Mladic guilty of genocide

Judges at the UN War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague on Wednesday convicted a former Bosnian Serb commander, Ratko Mladic, of genocide, murder and other war crimes.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

“The crimes were amongst the most heinous known to humankind,” the judges found.

Mr. Mladic, a former army commander in the defunct Republic of Yugoslavia, was convicted of “significantly contributing to war crimes” in Sarajevo and Srebrenica.

Also known as the ‘Butcher of Bosnia,’ Mr. Mladic faced 11 charges of war crimes and was found guilty of massacring over 8,000 men and boys in Srebrenica during the Bosnian War from 1992-95.

Majority of them were Muslim.

He was found not guilty of genocide in count one.

His lawyers had requested that the judgement be postponed to allow Mr. Mladic, 74, attend to his high blood pressure crisis. But when the judges rejected this, Mr. Mladic became enraged, cursing at the judges and screaming.

The judge then ordered his removal from courtroom at The Hague.

The prosecution had demanded a life sentence for the septuagenarian for his involvement in the atrocities which had been described as Europe’s worst since the World War II.

The judges considered his health conditions and age to sentence him.

Mr. Mladic had remained defiant and resolute about his innocence. He’s expected to appeal the ruling.