The spark for these wars was kindled in 1991, when Yugoslavia, a former communist republic that once included Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia, began to split apart.

Milosevic, a Serbian nationalist leader, was one of the most influential politicians in the region. He fueled the regional wars around and after the time of this dissolution.

In 1993, as the war in Bosnia was still being fought, the United Nations Security Council set up a special court, called the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, to address crimes committed during the wars there.

This court indicted Milosevic for war crimes and crimes against humanity in 1999 during the the ongoing Kosovo war. Milosevic’s alleged crimes in Kosovo included a massive ethnic cleansing campaign waged against Kosovar Albanians, the largest ethnic group there. Most of the people who died during this war were Kosovar Albanians.

But Milosevic was still in power when the indictment was issued, and the Serbian government shielded him from arrest.

Milosevic lost a presidential election in late September 2000 but initially refused to give up power. After widespread protests, Milosevic stepped down a week later, and a democratic government took over.

Almost two years later, Serbian police arrested Milosevic, though on domestic corruption and abuse of power charges.

The Serbian government transferred Milosevic to the international tribunal in June 2001.

This happened in the wake of U.S. threats to withhold much-needed loans to Serbia unless the government turned over Milosevic. Serbia later also arrested other former leaders wanted for war crimes – following intense Western political pressure and assurances by European countries and the U.S. that the government’s cooperation could result in Serbia’s gaining European Union membership.

The international tribunal launched its trial in The Hague, Netherlands, against Milosevic in February 2002. Milosevic faced dozens of charges for alleged crimes he committed in three different wars.

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