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W. Hebda - Ratko Mladić – Heroj ili zlocinac?

W. Hebda - Ratko Mladić – Heroj ili zlocinac?

Ratko Mladić, a Bosnian Serb, General of the Army of Republika Srpska during the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2021 after a 10-year criminal trial. Thus, the judgment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of 2017 was upheld. Ratko Mladić still appears to be a figure with two faces.

Wiktor Hebda

KBN Commentary no. 7 (79) / 2021

12 July 2021

Ratko Mladić, a Bosnian Serb, General of the Army of Republika Srpska during the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2021 after a 10-year criminal trial. Thus, the judgment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of 2017 was upheld. Ratko Mladić still appears to be a figure with two faces. On the one hand, he is associated with the Srebrenica massacre, where, as the commander of Bosnian Serb troops, he "consented" to an attack on civilians, which resulted in the murder of several thousand defenseless people in July 1995. For this reason, Mladić “deserves” the shameful title of a criminal (in Serbian: zlocinac). On the other hand, he is a personification of heroism and a symbol of heroic struggle in defense of Serbian national interests, making him a victim of “anti-Serb deals” (in Serbian: heroj). He is perceived in this way by part of the society in Serbia as well as in the Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Photo credit: ictyphotos, CC-BY 2.0

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W. Hebda - Ratko Mladić – Heroj ili zlocinac?