Ratko Mladić, the ‘Butcher of Bosnia’, could not escape death. But his fascist ideas and ideology live on | Ed Vulliamy

When I testified against Mladić at his trial in The Hague, I saw the unrepentant face of a mass murderer. That face and his legacy still haunt Serbia today Men age and die, but in the Balkans, time stands still and is stuck. General Ratko Mladić, who died in prison in The Hague on Thursday aged 84, remains a hero in the Republika Srpska statelet – the Serbian half of dismembered Bosnia that he carved out with a hurricane of violence between 1992 and 1995 – and in Serbia itself. Too many Serbs in whose name Mladić carried out his mass murder of other ethnicities – mainly Muslim Bošniak and Roman Catholic Croats – adore him and mourn his passing. Since Bosnia’s war ended, Mladić’s portrait has adorned posters, gable ends, mantelpieces and football fans’ flags. Supporters of Red Star Belgrade marked his death at a match against Viktoria Plzeň on Thursday night with banners reading: “General: Eternal glory. Thank you.” Republika Srpska’s former president Milorad Dodik extended his condolences to the Mladić family and paid tribute: “Republika Srpska will not forget his role, just as it has not forgotten it to this day. A man has died who was the commander in