Netherlands Court of Human Rights Ready to Judge Ratko Mladic The “Butcher of Bosnia”

Bosnian Serb general, Ratko Mladic, ready for trial on charges of genocide, Wednesday (16/5). Mladic accused of leading the massacre of 8000 boys and men from Muslim groups in Srebrenica in 1995. The massacre was an act called the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.

Mladic (70) is the last figure of the main protagonists starring in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. The plan, he will be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. He was also accused of masterminding massacres that occurred not only for a week in Srebrenica, but also in the case of 43-month siege of Sarajevo, where more than 10,000 people were shot dead by a sniper, machine gun mowed, and the use of heavy artillery.

List of allegations came from his actions while serving as commander of the Bosnian Serb army in the war 1992-1995 ranged from genocide to murder, terrorist acts and other crimes against humanity.
But Mladic, who was arrested in May last year after 16 years on the run, has denied the allegations and called it a “terrible”. He also said it was too ill to stand trial. The court also allowed the defense of “not guilty” on his behalf.

Previously, this case could evoke violent emotions among the Balkan people. The survivors were also seen attending the location of the trial and shouted “Murderer!” and “butcher” to the man dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia”.
Meanwhile, looking angry and challenging Mladic during pre-trial hearing, the judge ridiculed, shouted, and disrupts the proceedings.
“The whole world knows who I am. I Gen. Ratko Mladic, I defend my people, my country … now I defend myself,” he said during a pre-trial hearing last year.

Mladic also served as Bosnian Serb forces, for several days in July 1995, when militants stormed the headquarters of Serbia of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia, which theoretically under the protection of Dutch UN peacekeepers.
Video footage of the shooting at that time also showed Mladic mingle with Muslim prisoners. Shortly after that, men and boys were separated from women, who were stripped of identification, and shot.