Politicians, war criminals: 10 top figures

Former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic's life sentence Wednesday was the last of more than 80 major convictions by a UN court trying crimes committed in the wars that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Here are 10 top figures accused of atrocities during the wars -- some of them convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and some not.

- Milosevic, Serbian president: charged -

Slobodan Milosevic was accused of fuelling ethnic conflict and mass murder as he supported the Serb cause in the Croatian, Bosnian and Kosovo conflicts.

He died in his cell in 2006 aged 64 while awaiting a verdict on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

- Karadzic, Bosnian Serb leader: 40 years -

Radovan Karadzic, 72, was sentenced to 40 years in jail for genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and nine other charges including extermination, deportations and hostage-taking.

He evaded capture for 13 years until he was arrested in 2008 on a Belgrade bus, masquerading behind a bushy beard as a New Age healer.

- Mladic, Bosnian Serb commander: life -

The army chief dubbed the "butcher of Bosnia", 74, was found guilty on 10 counts including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 war.

Caught after 16 years on the run, Mladic was found guilty of the 1995 massacre in northeastern Srebrenica, where troops under his command slaughtered almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

- Seselj, radical Serb: acquitted -

A Milosevic ally, Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Seselj, 63, was accused of being behind the murder of Croats, Muslims and other non-Serbs, and the forced deportation of "tens of thousands".

The ICTY acquitted him on all charges, saying he did not have "hierarchial" responsibility for his forces after they came under Serbian army control. Prosecutors appealed. Seselj is now a member of parliament.

- Izetbegovic, Bosnian president: no charges -

Alija Izetbegovic was a Muslim who led Bosnia to independence. That move was followed by the bloody 1992-1995 war between Muslims, Serbs and Croats.

After his death in 2003, the ICTY said it had been investigating Serb allegations that he committed war crimes, but no charges were ever brought.

- Tudjman, Croatian president: no charges -

Franjo Tudjman took Croatia out of the Yugoslav federation as its first president. The subsequent independence war left about 20,000 people dead.

After Tudjman died in 1999, aged 77, the ICTY said he would have been indicted for war crimes had he lived.

- Plavsic, Bosnian Serb president: guilty -

The vice president of the Serbs' self-declared Republika Srpska during the Bosnian war, Biljana Plavsic, 87, pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity for persecution of Croats and Muslims.

She was sentenced to 11 years in jail in 2003 and granted release in 2009. She was the only woman to be convicted by the ICTY.

- Gotovina, Croatian general: acquitted -

An army general considered a war hero by many Croats, Ante Gotovina, now 62, was sentenced to 24 years in jail for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

He was acquitted on appeal in 2012.

- Krajisnik, Bosnian Serb leader: guilty -

Momcilo Krajisnik, 72, a wartime Bosnian Serb leader, served two-thirds of a 20-year sentence for crimes against humanity.

He was released in August 2013 -- to a hero's welcome at home.

- Thaci, Kosovo president: could face court -

Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci, 49, was the political leader of the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) that fought for independence from Serbia.

A 2010 Council of Europe report alleged he led a gang involved in assassinations, unlawful detentions and trafficking captives' organs. He denies the charges.

He was not investigated by the ICTY but could face a special court in The Hague for alleged KLA crimes.

Source:AFP