In Mladic's hometown, residents remember a different man

The small Bosnian town of Kalinovik is mourning the loss of its most famous son, General Ratko Mladic, who died on Thursday at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence for war crimes. But the grief here is not for the man the world knew as the "Butcher of Bosnia." It is for a friend, a neighbour, and a local boy who, in the eyes of those who grew up with him, could not have committed the atrocities for which he was convicted.

Throughout the town, tributes to Mladic are impossible to miss. A large banner bearing his portrait marks the entrance to Kalinovik, and a memorial in the main square features his distinctive military hat. Even the street leading to his birthplace in the nearby village of Bozinovici has been renamed in his honour.

Residents who knew Mladic in his youth spoke fondly of him on Friday. Vojin Lalovic, a childhood friend, called him "the best general in the whole wide world" and said he could not believe Mladic ever killed anyone. Stojanka Visnjevac, another old friend, described him as a good man who would not harm a child, dismissing the war crimes findings as "a bunch of lies." She noted that Mladic was orphaned early in life.

Mladic's family and the Serbian government had repeatedly sought his release on humanitarian grounds, citing his age and poor health. His latest request was rejected by the United Nations just a week before his death. He had been in custody since 2011, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 by the UN tribunal for his role in the mass atrocities committed against non-Serbs during the Bosnian War of the 1990s.