the news now

Convicted Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladić Dies in Prison at 84

24 sources across 16 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • Der Spiegel Germany · Centre-left · ~50% staff-owned
  • Sueddeutsche Zeitung Germany · Centre-left · Sudwestdeutsche Medien Holding
  • Deutsche Welle Germany · Centre · Public · German federal public-law corporation
  • Frankfurter Allgemeine Germany · Centre-right · FAZIT-Stiftung (foundation)
  • The Guardian United Kingdom · Centre-left · Scott Trust Limited
  • BBC News United Kingdom · Centre · Public · Licence fee, royal charter
  • Financial Times United Kingdom · Centre · Nikkei Inc.
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • Le Monde France · Centre-left · Fonds pour l'independance de la presse
  • France 24 France · Centre · Public · France Medias Monde (French state holding)
  • ANSA Italy · Centre · Publisher cooperative
  • Corriere della Sera Italy · Centre-right · RCS MediaGroup (Cairo Communication)
  • Infobae Argentina · Centre-right · Daniel Hadad
  • Politico Europe Belgium · Centre · Axel Springer SE
  • CNN Brasil Brazil · Centre · Rubens Menin (MRV)
  • La Tercera Chile · Centre-right · Copesa (Saieh family)
  • South China Morning Post Hong Kong · Centre-right · Alibaba Group
  • Telex Hungary · Centre · Reader-funded, staff-owned
  • Novaya Gazeta Europe Latvia · Centre-left · Crowdfunded; exiled Russian newsroom
  • Aftenposten Norway · Centre-right · Schibsted, Tinius Trust foundation
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded
  • El Pais Spain · Centre-left · Grupo PRISA
  • Neue Zuercher Zeitung Switzerland · Centre-right · Dispersed shareholders, no controlling stake
  • CNN United States · Centre-left · Warner Bros. Discovery

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb military commander convicted of genocide and war crimes, has died at the age of 84 in a United Nations prison hospital in The Hague. His death was reported by Serbian state media and confirmed by a UN official and his lawyer. Mladić had been serving a life sentence since 2017 for his role in the 1992 to 1995 Bosnian War. The conviction was upheld on appeal in 2021.

Mladić, often referred to as the Butcher of Bosnia, was the primary architect of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where approximately 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were executed. This event is recognized as the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II. He was also convicted for his role in the siege of Sarajevo, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 10,000 people. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia found that Mladić was part of a criminal conspiracy to implement a policy of ethnic cleansing to create a Greater Serbia.

Before his capture in 2011, Mladić spent 16 years as a fugitive in Serbia. He was eventually arrested in a northern Serbian village and transferred to The Hague. Throughout his trial and imprisonment, Mladić remained defiant, stating that he did not recognize the court and claiming that he had only defended the Serbian people.

In the months leading up to his death, Mladić suffered several strokes and received palliative care. His family and Serbian officials, including President Aleksandar Vucic, had requested his release or transfer to a military hospital in Serbia on humanitarian grounds. These requests were rejected by the court, which ruled that he was receiving comprehensive and compassionate treatment in prison.

Reactions to his death reflect deep divisions. Some survivors of the Srebrenica massacre stated that his death does not bring closure or erase the legacy of genocide. Conversely, some residents in Belgrade expressed the view that he was a hero who protected the Serbian people and that his imprisonment was an injustice.

How each side framed it

Centre-left
These outlets emphasized the brutality of the crimes, the evidence of cover ups, and the description of Mladić as the epitome of evil.
Centre
These outlets focused on the legal facts of his conviction and the contrasting public reactions in Bosnia and Serbia.
Centre-right
These outlets provided more detailed biographical context and highlighted the political pressure on Serbia to arrest him for EU accession.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.