IRMCT judge begins investigation into circumstances of Ratko Mladic’s death

Bonomy visited the United Nations Detention Unit and the prison hospital where Mladic had been receiving treatment on Saturday, according to the IRMCT.

The investigation remains ongoing, while details are being kept confidential at this stage.

The Mechanism said it remained in regular contact with Mladic’s family, including regarding arrangements for the transfer of his remains.

Dutch authorities confirmed on Saturday that they would not open a criminal investigation into Mladic’s death and that no autopsy would be conducted.

Mladic, the former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), died on August 27 in a detention hospital in Scheveningen while serving a life sentence.

He had been in the custody of the UN tribunal system since his arrest in Serbia in 2011, following nearly 16 years on the run.

The former Bosnian Serb military commander was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of genocide in Srebrenica, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war committed during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mladic was convicted of genocide for the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed.

He was also convicted over the campaign of sniping and shelling against civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, persecution and other crimes committed across Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the taking of UN personnel hostage.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) convicted Mladic in 2017. His life sentence was upheld on appeal by the IRMCT in 2021.