Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 5, 2016

Prosecutors have begun their closing arguments at the genocide trial of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic in The Hague.

Prosecutor Alan Tieger told judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on December 5 that Mladic helped orchestrate the 1995 massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys from Srebrenica.

Mladic is also accused of being the architect of the 44-month siege of Sarajevo, where an estimated 10,000 people were killed by shelling and snipers.

“His concern was not that Muslims might create a state, his concern was to have them vanish completely,” Tieger said.

Another prosecutor, Arthur Traldi, said that Mladic had “command and control” over the Bosnian Serb forces and that “in carrying out the ethnic cleansing campaign, his… forces committed a constant pattern of crimes throughout Serbian-claimed territory.”

The 74-year-old has denied all 11 charges against him — including two charges of genocide as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The closing arguments are expected to last more than a week, with a verdict expected next year.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP