Ratko Mladic, Infamous War Crimes Fugitive, Arrested After Years in Hiding
Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb Army commander, has been found and arrested in Serbia after a decade in hiding.
Mladic has been wanted by United Nations prosecutors for war crimes during the Bosnian civil war, and is accused of playing a central role in the massacre of 7,500 men and boys in 1995. Between April 1992 and February 1996, he led his army to lay siege to Sarajevo killing an estimated 10,000 people.
Serbian President Boris Tadic confirmed Maldic’s arrest to the world at a news conference Thursday.
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President Tadic told reporters that efforts are already underway to extradite Mladic to the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Tadic aldo commented that British and American intelligence had assisted Serbian state security in the operation to find Mladic.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato chief, has praised the news, indicating that with the arrest there is finally a “chance for justice to be done”.
The arrest occurred in Vojvodina, a northern province of Serbia during the early hours of Thursday morning local time. Reports suggest that Mladic was hiding under the assumed name Milorad Komodic.
The news of Mladic’s arrest will further ease the relationship between Bosnia and Serbia, and is being praised as a landmark achievement by leaders across the world.
Serbia had been told it must arrest Mladic if it wants to join the European Union. It had been widely suspected that he had been living in Serbia, where many regard him as a hero of Serb rights during the 1992-1995 civil war. There was outrage two years ago when video footage came to light apparantly showing Mladic living freely in the country, enjoying himself at a ski resort and dancing at a wedding.
Ratko Mladic has already been indicted by the UN War Crimes Tribunal in 1995 for the genocide of 7,500, which is recognized as the single worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
