The Butcher of Bosnia on Trial

On the podcast: A film on the war in Bosnia probes the psychology of genocide and justice.

By , the executive editor for podcasts at Foreign Policy.
A woman mourns over a relative's grave at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial and Cemetery on Nov. 22, 2017. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images)
A woman mourns over a relative's grave at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial and Cemetery on Nov. 22, 2017. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images)
A woman mourns over a relative's grave at the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial and Cemetery on Nov. 22, 2017. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images)

The breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s led to some of the worst bouts of violence on the European continent since World War II. In areas where different ethnic groups had lived side by side for generations, Muslim men and boys were systematically marched out of their villages and slaughtered by the Serbian army.

The breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s led to some of the worst bouts of violence on the European continent since World War II. In areas where different ethnic groups had lived side by side for generations, Muslim men and boys were systematically marched out of their villages and slaughtered by the Serbian army.

Fifteen years later, one of the architects of the genocide, Gen. Ratko Mladic, was brought to justice in The Hague. Two British filmmakers covered the trial over five years with unparalleled access to the defendant’s lawyers and family, prosecutors, and witnesses. The result is a documentary that probes the psychology of both genocide and justice. The film, The Trial of Ratko Mladic, aired on PBS Frontline last month.

We hear from one of those filmmakers, Rob Miller, on First Person this week.

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