International Responses and Commentary on Ratko Mladic’s Death and His Legacy
Global Reactions to Ratko Mladic’s Death
BELGRADE/AMSTERDAM, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Ratko Mladic, convicted of genocide for orchestrating the 1995 massacre of at least 8,000 Muslims in a U.N.-designated "safe area" of Bosnia, Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two, has died, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Here are some of the reactions to his death:
Perspectives from Victims and Memorial Representatives
Emir Suljagic, Head of the Srebrenica Memorial
EMIR SULJAGIC, HEAD OF THE SREBRENICA MEMORIAL:
"Ratko Mladic is dead and there is not much to say. Nor does that fact change much. It doesn't bring back the dead. It doesn't clear mass graves. It does not change judgments. It does not turn the criminal into a historical figure.
"Now the hardest part of the job remains: not to let the truth, responsibility and memory die with him. Mladic's death is another moment in which we must decide what we will remember and more importantly, what we will not allow to be erased."
Kada Hotic, Survivor and Victim’s Family Member
KADA HOTIC, 82, WHOSE 29-YEAR-OLD SON AND 56-YEAR-OLD HUSBAND WERE KILLED BY SERB FORCES IN 1995:
"I am grateful to the Tribunal because it sentenced Mladic to life and has not released him. Justice was served on the day he was sentenced to life. He died in disgrace, because he killed so many people."
Serbian Political and Nationalist Reactions
Bosnian Serb Separatist Leader Milorad Dodik
BOSNIAN SERB SEPARATIST LEADER MILORAD DODIK:
"It is a murder. He was respected by Serbian people. As a commander he stood to defend Serbs."
Serbian Ultra-Nationalist Politician Vojislav Seselj
SERBIAN ULTRA-NATIONALIST POLITICIAN VOJISLAV SESELJ:
"Mladic fought against those villains for a long time; they expected his death two or three years ago, but he did not give up ... They killed him."
Reporting and Attribution
(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac, writing by Bart Meijer)
