Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army

Ratko Mladic is charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia with genocide, complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. Identity

• Ratko Mladic was born on 12 March 1942 in the municipality of Kalinovik, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was a regular officer in the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and subsequently the army of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (VRS). In April 1992 he was promoted to the rank of General Lieutenant and on 12 May was appointed Commander of the Main Staff of the VRS, a position he held until at least 22 December 1996.

Proceedings

• On the basis of the first indictment issued on 24 July 1995, an arrest warrant against Ratko Mladic was sent to the Yugoslav authorities. On 2 August 1995, the ICTY issued a request for inter-state cooperation.
• In the second initial indictment « Srebrenica », of 16 November 1995, an arrest warrant was sent to the Yugoslav authorities on 21 November 1995. The notification contained the addresses of the two accused, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.
• On 11 July 1996, the court noted Yugoslavia and Republika Srpska's (RS) refusal to cooperate. On the same day, the two accused were issued with international arrest warrants and orders to surrender. The ICTY president informed the Security Council of the two states' refusal to cooperate with the court.
• On 11 July 1996, the two cases (Karadzic/Mladic and Srebrenica) were joined into one.
• On During a three-day visit to Belgrade on 25 January 2001, chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte asked the Yugoslav justice minister to extradite Ratko Mladic.
• On 5 September 2001, at the end of a second visit after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic stated that his government had «no authority» over General Mladic, because he was not a «Yugoslav citizen». The previous day, Carla Del Ponte had announced in a press conference that she had spoken with the Belgrade authorities about the case of «the fugitive Mladic, given that our sources indicate that he is here». According to AFP, the chief prosecutor later said that the Serb authorities had declared their willingness to cooperate with the court.

IJT published:

ICTY: The domino effect of a video, IJT 27, 13 June 2005.
Mladic and Belgrade in the firing line, IJT 13, 4 October 2004.
Republika Srpska recognises the Srebrenica «massacre», IJT 7, 21 June 2004.
Genocide did take place in Srebrenica, IJT 4, 3 May 2004.