http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mla-ai021010e.htm : 22 December 1996. On 24 June 1994, Ratko MLADIC was promoted to the rank of General Colonel. STATEMENT OF FACTS 4. In 1990, multi-party elections were held in BiH for the first time since the Second World War. At the Republic level, the SDA (Stranka Demokratske Akcije), the main party of the Bosnian Muslims, won 86 seats in the Assembly; the SDS (Srpska Demokratska Stranka), the main party of the Bosnian Serbs, won 72 seats; and the HDZ (Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica), the main party of the Bosnian Croats, won 44 seats. The policy of the SDS included an emphasis on the unity of ethnic Serbs in a common state. By early 1991, the SDS began to organise certain areas of BiH into Serb regional areas. 5. On 25 June 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from the SFRY. The following