Former Serbian military chief Ratko Mladic, also known as the "Butcher of Bosnia" is accused of masterminding some of the worst atrocities Europe has ever seen, but to many Serbs he is revered as a national hero.
Mladic, who is to face a UN war crimes tribunal, is held responsible for a barbaric legacy whilst head of the Bosnian Serb Army, accused of the brutal killing of thousands of Bosnian Muslims during a barbarous campaign of ethnic cleansing.
He is thought to have ordered the 44-month Siege of Sarajevo, a campaign of terror carried out on unarmed civilians. Shelled and shot by snipers, families were terrorised in their homes, left with no electricity or running water.
His 23-year-old daughter, Ana, committed suicide 1994. It was said she shot herself in the head, unable to cope after reading reports of her father's bloodthirsty military campaigns. Her death only hardened his savage resolve, reports Reuters.
Graffiti hailing Mladic vandalised in Belgrade, Serbia
Paramilitaries commanded by Mladic took hold of the eastern city of Srebrenica in 1995. Around 7,000 unarmed Muslims were killed and in total 12,000 civilians were slaughtered.
The mass murder was described by Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, as the "worst atrocity since World War II". Boys as young as 12-years-old were rounded up and shot alongside their fathers and grandfathers. Chillingly, Mladic was seen in the city square only hours before, handing sweets to the young boys, reports the BBC.
Known for his cold and ruthless disposition, he is reported to have said "borders are always drawn in blood and states marked out with graves", according to the Telegraph.
Mladic as a General of the Serbian army
His ferocious battle cries terrorised ordinary civilians but his fanatical extermination of Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Croats made him a kind of hero amongst his followers.
According to the BBC, Mladic screamed "Burn their brains!" and "shell them until they're on the edge of madness" to inspire his troops.
Mladic was born in 1942 and wanted to become a teacher, reports Reuters. However, after joining the Yugoslav people's army in 1961, he quickly rose through the ranks to become a career soldier.
After the Bosnian conflict, Mladic was indicted by The Hague for genocide and crimes against humanity in 1995. However for 16 years after the war, Mladic avoided arrest. His status as a hero, a man who campaigned for the good of "Great Serbia" is thought to have helped him evade capture.
In May 2011, a gaunt 70-year-old Mladic was found withered and weakened in a farmhouse in northern Serbia, his fragile appearance a far cry from the last shots taken of the imposing Serb general.
Now a very sick man, his health believed to have been weakened by a number of strokes and a heart problem, the UN court has scaled back the case against him, as many want to see Mladic face his crimes while still alive.
Upon his capture Mladic was allowed to go visit the Belgrade grave of his daughter, Ana, in 2011. His son Darko, who has given Mladic two grandchildren, claims that his father did not order the Srebrenica massacre, and that he actually saved the lives of thousands of Muslims.
Former Bosnian Serb soldiers protested in Mladic's birthplace of Kalinovik upon his extradition to The Hague. Placards declaring the former general as a "saint" and a saviour showed the extent of the influence of Mladic in his prime.