The Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT) heard oral arguments Tuesday and Wednesday in the appeal of former Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina military commander Ratko Mladić. Mladić appealed his 2017 conviction and life sentence for genocide, crimes against humanity and violation of the laws or customs of war in the Bosnian War for his “leading and grave role” in four Joint Criminal Enterprises (JCEs).

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) trial chamber found Mladić responsible for the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in 1995 (Srebrenica genocide), attacking and spreading terror among civilians during the over 43-month siege of the city, and permanent removal of Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks) and Croats from Bosnian Serb-claimed territories. He had remained in command for over four years.

Mladić requested the Appeals Chamber either to quash his conviction, order a retrial, or reduce his sentence on grounds including the Trial Chamber not having provided him a fair trial and having erred in fact and in law. The prosecution also appealed the Trial Chamber’s verdict stating Mladić should also be convicted of genocide against Bosniaks and Croats in municipalities beyond Srebrenica during the Bosnian War.

The judges are expected to rule in 2021.