‘Butcher of Bosnia’: War Crimes Fugitive Mladic Busted in Serbia
- Posted on May 26, 2011 at 10:41am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Gen. Ratko Mladic, the brutal Bosnian Serb general suspected of leading the bloody massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys, was arrested in an early morning raid Thursday in Serbia after years in hiding, the country’s president said.
The arrest 16 years after Mladic was indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal for genocide, could be a jolt for Serbia’s lagging efforts to join the European Union. The country has been under intense pressure from the international community to catch Europe’s most wanted war crimes suspect and the EU has insisted on his arrest as a condition for its membership bid.
U.N. prosecutors have said they believed the suspect in the worst massacre in Europe since World War II was hiding in Serbia under the protection of hardliners who consider him a hero for his role in Bosnia’s 1992-95 ethnic war.
Belgrade’s media said Mladic was arrested in Lazarevo, a village some 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Belgrade, at the home of relatives. B-92 radio said Mladic was not in disguise when arrested, unlike wartime Bosnian Serb president Radovan Karadzic, who was arrested in Belgrade in 2008 posing as a New Age guru, with long white hair and a beard.
Villagers told The Associated Press that the dusk action by Serbian security officers appeared to be swift and quiet.
“They didn’t even wake us up,” a man who identified himself only as Zoran for fear of reprisals said. “We learned about the arrest only in the morning.”
The general earned a reputation as a cold and ruthless killer, personally leading his troops in the bloody Serb onslaught against the U.N.-protected Srebrenica enclave in Bosnia. Just hours before the slaughter, Mladic handed out candy to Muslim children in the town’s square, assuring them everything would be fine and patting one child on the head. Then the shootings began and the bodies of the victims were bulldozed into mass graves.
The town’s name has become nearly synonymous with the horrible bloodshed of the Balkan conflicts.
“We ended a difficult period of our history and removed the stain from the face of the members of our nation wherever they live,” President Boris Tadic told reporters in announcing the arrest.
Mladic will be extradited to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, he said. He did not specify when, but said “an extradition process is under way.” Justice officials say it will take at least a week before he is handed over.
In Bosnia, the head of a group of victims’ family members formed to keep the pressure on war crimes investigators, welcomed the arrest. But, added Munira Subasic, “I’m sorry for all the victims who are dead and cannot see this day.”
Serbia has been under intense scrutiny over Mladic, with the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, complaining earlier this month that authorities were not doing enough to capture him and other war crimes fugitives.
Brammertz‘s regular reports on Serbia’s compliance are crucial for the Balkan country’s efforts to become an EU member candidate. On Thursday, he called justice for the victims of Mladic’s alleged crimes in Bosnia “long overdue.”
The victims “endured unimaginable horrors – including the genocide in Srebrenica,” Brammertz said in a statement Thursday.
Serbia’s war crimes office said in a statement that the arrest represents “the fulfillment of justice.”
Croatian media, which first broke the story, said police there got confirmation from their Serbian colleagues that DNA analysis confirmed Mladic’s identity.
In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen hailed the arrest, saying Thursday that almost 16 years since Mladic’s indictment for genocide “his arrest finally offers a chance for justice to be done.”
Tens of thousands of NATO troops were deployed to Bosnia in 1995 to safeguard a U.S.-sponsored peace agreement between that nations’ warring factions. They have since been withdrawn and replaced by a much smaller European Union force.
The White House congratulated Serbian authorities on Mladic’s arrest and said his capture shows that justice eventually will come to those who perpetrate crimes against humanity.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of so many people who suffered under the violence and tyranny of Mladic,” said deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, who spoke in Deauville, France, where President Barack Obama was attending an economic summit on Thursday.
In 1995, The United Nations had declared Serb-besieged Srebrenica a protected area for civilians. But the few hundred Dutch Blue Helmets on the ground were left short of credible weaponry or a clear mandate to protect the town.
Srebrenica fell to the Serbs after senior U.N. commanders dithered on Dutch requests for air strikes and its overwhelmingly Bosnian Muslim residents swarmed the U.N. military base, seeking refuge. But the peacekeepers allowed the Serbs to take away the townspeople when Mladic said they would not be harmed.
Since the massacre, the bodies of thousands of the victims have been recovered, identified through DNA tests and laid to rest.
—–
Associated Press writers Jovana Gec, Slobodan Lekic in Brussels and Aida Cerkez in Sarajevo contributed to this story.
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Comments (72)
Contrarian51
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 7:19pmI presume they’ll be prosecuting him in the World Court? So if he lives to be 267 years old, the case will actually get to trial.
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 6:03pmThanks for those links. When you consider the history put together with what‘s happening with the turban heads in Egypt it’s not a far stretch to see the rise of the Third Reich again. Same people, same sick beliefs, same killing machine.
Report Post »CulperGang
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 5:22pmIf what I am saying is not correct then ask yourself this: Why was there a HUGE worldwide outcry of this alleged Muslim slaughter(by Christians) YET today a decade later the tables are turned and Muslims are slaughtering Christians around the world and NOT one utterance from MSM or the UN of OUTRAGE!!!!!!! just a small articles here and there in obscure papers.Egypt is NOW slaughtering its Christians!!
That worldwide outcry was orchestrated and Hollywood scripted by the Clinton bilderberger marxist crowd. I read some expose a long time ago that “Grave yards were looted of bodies and put into mass graves to make it look as thought it was part of the war.” When in fact the Serb army was not even in that area at the time that the picture was taken and the place was not even a war zone.
Who are you going to believe Clintons? Muslims? or the Christians?
Americans are also being used as useful idiots then and now by our own government. Why are we in Lybia exactly?? getting rid of a dictator? Really as the Patriot Faux Act is turning us into a police state! as we are being rationed on food and gasoline the life blood of our freedom!!!
Report Post »YOUR GOVERNMENT HATES YOU AND YOUR FREEDOM. A handful want you under their thumb. THEY WILL LIE/STEAL/CHEAT/Destroy you to get what they want. They are doing it now. They did it Yugoslavia.
Captain Crunch
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 5:40pmI do faintly recall that accusation by the Serbs that the muslems dug up and moved graves. I was never investigated and dismissed by NATO. I never could figure out at the time why we were bombing the good side. That was a long time ago. This is exactly why they don’t tolerate people who remember history. Apparently there were Christians who hid Mladic for a very long time, Why? They know the truth. He was probably betrayed by someone close.
Report Post »Which reminds me of something Glenn said on the radio a few days ago. “Would you hide Ann Frank? Would you be the person to build that false wall?
Thanks for the reminder about the graves. It’s very possibly true that the killings were all staged for the western media.
Jenny Lind
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 4:03pmReal justice will begin the day he dies-nothing the world can do will be worse than what he faces there.
Report Post »krmike
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 3:33pmI guess Nobama will take credit for capturing him too !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 2:43pmI firmly disagree! This Serb killed muslems. The Serbs were defending themselves against the Muslems. Clinton was involved in the decision to bomb the Serbs (Christians). According to my understanding of this war we took sides with the wrong people. I think he should be hailed as a hero and I don’t care what any of you think. It was a nasty war we had no business being involved it.
Report Post »michigangirl87
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 12:24pmWhat is wrong with you people saying this is a good thing he did? Murder is murder! This man shot thousands of people and dumped them into mass graves. It wasn’t in battle, he walked in and killed them just like that. So it’s okay because they were on the opposing side? No! If that was the case, then they were prisoners of war and have rights, after the other side takes the victory. It’s okay because they were Muslim? No! I say this as a Jewish Christian. It’s wrong for Muslims to commit mass murder in the name of jihad, and it was wrong for this man to commit mass murder as well.
Report Post »attleboro
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 12:30pmExactly.
Report Post »Centralsville
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 1:30pmAnd the world locks him up and looks the other way when Muslims murder thousands of Chrisitans all around the world.
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 3:03pmMurder is murder yes. Self and national defense is justified.
Report Post »Whatever it takes to stop the turban heads …..dig a deeper pit!
Captain Crunch
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 3:09pmLots of very deep pits. Get the point?
Report Post »CulperGang
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 12:22pmSpeaking of LIES masking truth:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/05/secret-patriot-act/
Report Post »lukeshop
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 12:02pmThis guy is a hero in the eyes of all Christian Crusaders!!! What the world needs is a million more
Report Post »of his kind!!! Set them loose in the middle east and destroy the current muslim maniacs….
attleboro
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 12:29pmYou are not going to heaven.
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 2:59pmI think a lot of Christian Crusaders will be notable in Heaven. If it wasn’t for those brave warriors and the Christian Church, Europe would have been overthrown. We have a repeat of history to look forward to. Prophetically there will be many strongholds. The antichrist will succeed in taking them down one by one. After the last stronghold is defeated that’s when Jesus returns. It says He will “exterminate” the sinners from the face of the earth at that time. Lord willing I’ll be able to to hold out in that last stronghold as long as possible before they cut my head off. The Crusaders deserve great honor and their names to be memorilized. They saved our culture and faith from the turban headed hords. I’m not Catholic but I believe God used those Popes to hold back the evil.
Report Post »God bless and protect our Crusaders.
roadspikes4libs
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:56amWell, all Mladic and his fellows have to do is declare that they are a “religion of peace” and the rest of the politically correct world will gladly look the other way and make excuses for them.
Report Post »Pyx
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:51amThe article says; QUOTE Gen. Ratko Mladic, the brutal Bosnian Serb general suspected of leading the bloody massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys UNQUOTE
I suspect that many many more Christians, Jews and others were massacred by moslems. I also note that Croat moslems sided with the NAZIS during WWII against Bosnian Serbs and the West..
Report Post »cbazan3
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:49ammuslims are murdering Christians, Jews, etc, etc… all over the world and nobody says a word.
Report Post »This_Individual
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 2:27pmYes. Anyone who uses their religion/God to cause or wish harm on others should be publicly humiliated by the rest of us who only wish to be left in peace.
Report Post »Centralsville
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:47amI wish the world would go after the muslim mass murderers of Christians with the same gusto instead of looking the other way. It’s a one way street. It’s PC to kill Christians but not Muslims.
Report Post »Infidel and Proud
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:46amPerhaps this is the politically correct “balance” for the glorious demise of Obama been lying – I mean osama been dying ne osama been frying (in hell!)
Report Post »Infidel and Proud
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:45amAt last a man who is NOT afraid to be politically INcorrect and did what was and is still very much needed to be done !
Report Post »Of course if it was christians that were slaughtered, this would be glossed over by the lefty lame stream media maggots…
Release him and let him finish the job!
Edward6663
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:35amH.E.R.O–if we expect to have any law and order in the world, someone will have to thin the herd. Our leaders have killed millions in our name, can we hang them, too?
Report Post »elosogrande
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:27amWhen do they start arresting the Muslims that murdered millions of Yugoslavians, or doesn’t anyone give a damn when Christians are slaughtered for 400 years?
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 3:00pmDon’t you see? It is not politically correct to care about Christians and Jews.
Report Post »old white guy
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:15amjust wait until we actually have to do something about the islamic jihad.
Report Post »nephewofdboone
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:14amThis guy should be getting a frikn medal. If my town was suddenly overrun with m u s l i m s who are taught to hate me, I might wish somebody like him was around.
Report Post »attleboro
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 12:28pmYou do not know Balkans history.
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 2:58pm@Attleboro
Report Post »Please tell us the facts. What is your end of the story. The fact is that Clinton sided with the muslims against the Christians. That is a fact. You must be a muslim.
CulperGang
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:13amThe Serb atrocities ARE CLINTONIAN MYTH. The historical fact is that Muslims were enraging the Chritians in Yugoslavia on a daily basis with their Muslim aggressions against Chrisitians. This went on for DECADES until the stronger Christians slaughtered their collective A. Muslims threatened slaughter and Christians gave it right back. THAT IS THE TRUE FACTS OF THE HISTORY OF YUGOSLAVIA. Along comes Clinton who is the “useful idiot” of the powerful “Mullahs in the Middle East” aka Muslim Governments whom the marxist clinton are in league with to destroy sovereign nations for the NWO concept, and destroys Chrisitians for the MUllahs. STRONGER Christians who were kicking Muslims teeth in were squashed by Mullahs using AMERICAN soldiers. Those mass grave massacres they are the finger prints of muslims. Those pictures of those starving muslims? yeah that’s what you get when you rip apart your community and country and halt production of food.
Report Post »Mladic is not the war criminal….the UN and Clinton is. For decades Muslims were harassing and slaughtering Christians in Yugoslavia. Where was the UN? Where was Clinton? NOWHERE just like they are nowhere today as CHRISTIANS are being slaughtered by Muslism today.
The Yugoslavian REAL story is masked NOT what happened in Yugoslavia. The real story was Muslim agressions. THE only Euro nation that stood up to Muslims. THE ONLY ONE. destroyed by the Marxist/Mullah alliance by Clinton using US rescources.
attleboro
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 12:27pmYour post is so very historically inaccurate.
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 2:54pmAgree. The truth comes out. Nice work patriot.
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 2:55pm@ Attelboro
Report Post »Please enlighten us smart guy. Were you there?
juggernaut
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 3:03pmCulpergang is spot on, thanks for the truth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Stronge
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 7:12amThe level of bigotry and historical revisionism on this site is truly breathtaking sometimes.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 10:54amWhen you read the description of the massacre, the muslim dream of the annihilation of the Jews comes to mind.
Report Post »attleboro
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 10:53amLong overdue. There are no doubt lots of Serbs who still consider him a hero.
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 10:52amI can’t wait until Bush, Cheney, and Obama are arrested for war crimes and violation of the War Powers Act.
Report Post »attleboro
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:00amGet used to waiting.
Report Post »thecrow
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:01amhttp://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/forgive-and-forgetforget/
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:07amOf course.
They’re cousins, why would Obama prosecute Bush…c’mon.
Besides, Obama is just continuing Bush’s neocon agenda of preemptive war under the guise of “humanitarian aid” ya know.
We’re just dropping those sweet little love bombs of humanitarian aid on Qaddafi AND ARMING AL QAEDA TO FIGHT QADDAFI!!!
This is Backwardsland.
Report Post »techengineer11
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:49amI would be willing to bet my life that what GWB and his administration engaged in is 100x more sinister than what this guy is accused of doing. At least this General was defending his homeland from radical Muslims.. A noble cause in my opinion.
GWB and his administration just out right wrecked an entire nation leading to the slaughter of up to a 1 million people mostly civilians because they were reportedly attempting to buy yellow cake from Africa???
Well techengineer they murdered their own people… lol My gawd people are you brain dead?? The Kurds are not Iraqis and they have been at odds since the creation of the new Iraqi state after WW2.. Besides that there’s far more innoncent blood spilled on the streets of America each and every day.. Do we need the UN to come in and bomb and occupy us as a failure to properly secure the Homeland?
You must have an objective view point of view.. I just don’t see how any rational person can justify what happened in Iraq.. much less the damn costs!!! and they say they need to cut our Medicare??? lol
Report Post »Bring the Armies home first before cutting anything!
techengineer11
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 12:47pmTheGreyPiper: By all appearances you’d make a great Democrat. You bring very few facts if any to the table, you constantly generalize and you never use any logic.
Is there anything in particluar mentioned above that you like to debate. Was there a fact or something mistated? Seriously why not just speak the truth.. You are a follower, you have very uninformed opinions and you consistenly engage in group think.
I’d suggest an age old addage. Always try to put yourself in the other persons shoes.. Or better yet do unto others as you’d have them do unto you?? Sound familiar?
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 1:21pmI seem to remember GWB getting an Ok from congress and all the Two -Faced in the DEMOCRAT PARTY signed on. ,for a short time , then went back to troop bashing , GWB trashing. They mostly all agreed that Saddam had WMD‘s until they didn’t. How can you be in two places at once, when you are nowhere at all??
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 2:53pm@techengineer11
Report Post »I totally agree with you. The muslims want to kill all inifidels but when the infidels kill the muslims in self defense then that is somehow a crime. My butt.
techengineer11
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 3:07pm13th Imam: I think that’s the whole point. It is now pretty well settled understanding that they used the threat of WMD in order to get Congressional approval while knowing that it was ******** all along.
Have you read the white papers in which the Neo-Cons had plans made up for invading Iraq since 1999?
Report Post »Maybe if some of your loved ones had of been bombed like the innocent Iraqis were you’d be a little more sympathetic. I just pray to God that once America loses it’s super power status that no other world power trumps of charges against us in order that they might invade.. You know I bet our grain fields are looking pretty good in the eyes of many across this planet right now. Maybe we can defend them now but what about 20 yrs from now?
Sinista MACE
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 6:32pm13th
Congress was lied to the same way the American people were lied to.
There was no connection between Iraq and 9-11. The so-called mobile nuclear or anthrax labs or whatever were helum balloon canisters and they knew it when they fabricated that lie.
Report Post »briar101
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:04pmYou’ll see war crimes when we let Muslims have Sharia law anywhere, and they want it everywhere.
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 8:42amI already saw war crimes when Bush knocked those buildings down, blamed it on muslims, and proceeded to torture confessions out of them.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 10:51amBarry led the raid, rapelled in all alone, spoke to him in his stern way, and flew back to France and had a couple of Boxes of French vino. What a man. UN Peacekeepers is an oxymoron.
Report Post »CowboyExpat
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:06amha ha ha…
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 10:48amHang him.
Report Post »http://guerillatics.com
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 10:56amLooks like Leonardo DiCaprio’s father. Wouldn’t be surprised if he was.
Report Post »old white guy
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 11:14ami’m guessing the muslims will expand on his numbers.
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 2:50pmWhy hang him? For killing muslim savages that killed his people. Screw the muslims. The guy is a hero. Somebody has to take out the trash.
Report Post »avenger
Posted on May 26, 2011 at 3:52pmnow hold on here…this guy is fighting the Crusades.. http://thereligionofpeace.com so where is the fkng outrage for the stats on this site that are on going everyday ? hello ! anyone out there in the free world with a brain ?
Report Post »SonOfaCommunist
Posted on May 27, 2011 at 1:33pmFrom some who comes from former Yugoslavia, I can’t say any of the sides were very good. But, what most of you don’t know is that Bosnian Muslims were getting aid from all over the Middle East, primarily Iran!!!!!! And yes, the very PRO Muslim UN will exaggerate the numbers! Never trust numbers that come from the UN!
Report Post »