Entry 2: Organizers & Leaders

Organizers and Leaders of the Bosnian Genocide

         

Ratko Mladić

First, I will talk about the leaders on the Serb side.  In my last post, I touched on the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS).  Well, since this post is about organizers and leaders, it’s only right to mention Ratko Mladić, general of the VRS.  Before commanding the VRS, Mladić was a high ranking officer in the Yugoslavian army.  Because of his horrific acts against the people of Bosnia, he was arrested and accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. He was directly responsible for the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as, the Srebrenica Massacre which is the largest mass murder Europe has seen since Nazi Germany. Mladić’s trial began in May 2012.  Ratko declared he was acting out of fear of a new Islamic push through Balkans to Europe” (“The Lessons of Bosnia”) Right after the trial began, the judge overseeing it, claimed that the prosecution had mismanaged evidence, and the trial was suspended. 

Slobodan Milošević

      Another power player in the genocide was Slobodan Milošević, a communist leader and president of Serbia from 1989 to 1997.  Milošević was also charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity during the wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).   His trials began in 1999, and it was important, because it was the first time that an indictement was handed down to a head of state. Milošević was found dead in his cell in 2006, with the final phase of his trial still ongoing.  A sentence was expected to be handed down later that year. 

 

Radovan Karadžić

The last major organizer for the Serbs was Radovan Karadžić. Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. In 1990, he formed the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) and in 1992, made himself the leader of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and began his role in the ethnic cleansing process of Bosnia. In 2008, after 12 years in hiding, Karadžić was finally made to stand trial for his part in the Bosnian Genocide.