Judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found Mladic guilty on 10 counts including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity such as murder and deportation. He was however acquitted of one charge of genocide in certain municipalities. About 100,000 people were killed and 2.2 million displaced in the 1992-1995 war when ethnic rivalries tore Yugoslavia apart. Judges said "ruthless" Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic's command carried out "mass executions" and showed "little or no respect for human life or dignity."
"For having committed these crimes, the chamber sentences Mr Ratko Mladic to life imprisonment," presiding judge Alphons Orie said as applause broke out in the public gallery. A smiling Mladic, 74, who once left a trail of fear across Bosnia, gave a thumbs-up as he entered the courtroom in The Hague dressed in a grey suit with a red tie. But in dramatic scenes he was later ordered to be removed, after accusing the judges of lying, when they refused to adjourn the hearing because of his high blood pressure.
"They are lying, you are lying. I don't feel good," he shouted, as two UN security guards hustled him into a nearby room to watch the rest of the verdict. Wednesday's verdict was long awaited by tens of thousands of victims across the bitterly-divided region. Dozens gathered early outside the courtroom, many clutching photos of loved ones who died or are among the 7,000 still missing.
It was an emotional day for victims, some of whom sobbed in the public gallery as the judges recalled brutal scenes of rape and murder. In Srebrenica there were tears of joy. "Mladic will die in The Hague! I'm so happy that justice has been done!" said Nedziba Salihovic, who lost her husband, father and son in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
The court found Mladic guilty of genocide in that northeastern town, where troops under his command slaughtered almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys. The killings, in which the victims were marched away, shot in the back and dumped in mass graves, was one of the darkest episodes in the conflict, and has been called the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II. Mladic "intended to eliminate the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica by killing men and boys and forcibly removing the women, young children and some elderly men," Orie said.
Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in March 2016 for similar charges, including the Srebrenica genocide. He is appealing the sentence. Edin Halilovic, 18, whose grandfather died in Srebrenica, said it had been important to attend the hearing. "My generation, and future generations, must never forget what happened to our families."
Chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz said the verdict marked as a "milestone" for the court and for international justice. Mladic's was the last genocide trial before the tribunal which will close its doors on December 31, having indicted 161 people since it was set up in 1993. Praising the victims as the only "true heroes," Brammertz insisted it was not a verdict against the Serbian people.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017