The UN court announced yesterday evening that Dutch authorities will not open a criminal investigation into the death of former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic, who died on Thursday in The Hague, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
The Hague-based international residual mechanism for criminal tribunals also said that its own investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mladic's death was still ongoing.
„As announced by the Mechanism on 27 August 2026, Mr Ratko Mladic (...) died that day while hospitalized in The Hague, the Netherlands“, the UN court said.
„The Dutch authorities immediately started the standard procedures under Dutch law. On Friday, August 28, 2026, they confirmed that no criminal investigation would be opened and that no autopsy would be performed,“ the court added in a statement.
“Meanwhile, on August 27, 2026, the President of the Mechanism, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, ordered an in-depth investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Mladic's death and assigned the case to Judge Ian Bonomi“, the court also informed.
Mladic was nicknamed the “Butcher of the Balkans“ for his role in the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, AFP recalls. The former general was serving a life sentence in The Hague for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity after orchestrating the Srebrenica massacre, Europe's worst since World War II.
Seriously ill for months, he died days after the Mechanism's latest rejection of a request by his family and the Serbian government to transfer him to a military hospital in Belgrade for treatment.
Judge Bonomi travelled to The Hague and began his investigation on Friday, including visits to the UN detention facility and the prison hospital, the court said.
“The investigation is ongoing and details of it remain confidential at this time. The Mechanism has been in regular contact with Mr Mladic's family since his death, in particular regarding the transfer of his remains,“ the court stressed.
They added that they could not provide further information on the matter at this time.