Representatives of the families of the Srebrenica and other victims of Ratko Mladić's terror on Tuesday welcomed the final verdict of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (MICT) sentencing Mladic to life imprisonment, describing it as important for justice for the victims.

The announcement of the verdict was followed by representatives of victims’ associations in The Hague, Srebrenica, Prijedor and Sarajevo.

Suhra Malic, who lost her two sons in Srebrenica, said that she finally felt a little bit calmer after the verdict was announced.

“I was crying the whole day. There are so many graves here. It hurts so much when they deny the genocide,” said Malic.

Dzafija Hadzimulic, whose family members, too, were killed, expressed satisfaction with the verdict.

“I am satisfied, he is not worth our children but it is important that genocide was adjudicated,” she said.

Genocide, however, was not adjudicated for Prijedor and four more towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina, about which local residents are not happy.

“Genocide did happen here and that is painful for us. All of our neighbours were killed,” said Ismeta from Prijedor.

A legal expert and former liaison officer with the Hague tribunal, Vasvija Vidovic, said that it was not realistic to expect that genocide would be adjudicated for other BiH municipalities where crimes were committed.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic described the verdict as historic.

“The verdict for Ratko Mladic is final and historic. It has huge significance for the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire region because lasting peace and stability can be built only on justice and the truth. Mladic was one of the main perpetrators of genocide and he deserves this sentence,” she said in a Twitter post.

Banja Luka: Selective justice

As expected, the people of the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska were dissatisfied with the ruling.

A banner saying that they do not recognise rulings by the Hague tribunal was put up in downtown Banja Luka.

“You are Republika Srpska's pride,” the banner read.

In Mladic's hometown of Kalinovik in eastern Bosnia, a mural was painted with the image of the convicted war criminal and his relative Zoran Mladic said that the verdict was unjust to the Serbs.

“He does not belong there. He did not commit any crime. He will be remembered as a legend, a hero of the Serb people,” said Mladic.