Ratko Mladić

Born 12 March 1942, Mladić joined the Yugoslav People's Army in 1965 as a member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. He rose through JNA ranks before becoming Chief of Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska when the Bosnian War broke out in 1992. In July 1996, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia issued an international arrest warrant after finding reasonable grounds he had committed the alleged crimes. Protected first by Serbian and Bosnian Serb security forces, then by family, he evaded capture for nearly sixteen years despite a €5 million bounty. Arrested in Lazarevo, Serbia in 2011 and extradited to The Hague, his capture became a precondition for Serbia's EU candidacy. His trial ran from 2012 to 2017, ending in conviction on ten charges including genocide and command responsibility for the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre.