The mothers, wives and sisters of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men massacred in Srebrenica by Belgrade-backed forces say Slobodan Milosevic must still be convicted, if only by history.
The United Nations tribunal in The Hague today formally closed his four-year trial on 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo following his death three days ago.
"It took them a day to kill 8,000 people. The court had five years and still it didn't sentence Milosevic," said Kada Hotic of the Mothers of Srebrenica association, watching the close of his trial on television at the association's office in Sarajevo.
"It can't end like this. We want a sentence despite his death." The lack of a verdict would mean his policies of genocide and ethnic cleansing paid off in the end, she said.
With Milosevic dead, Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief Ratko Mladic are the only high-level suspects who can still be held responsible for planning the July 1995 massacre at the UN-guarded enclave.
Both are on the run, leaving the women of Srebrenica little hope for justice.
"The only thing we have left is to pray they will receive God's punishment," said Munira Subasic, head of the association. "We don't expect justice from The Hague or from Bosnia's war crimes court."
Ms Hotic said the court ought not to bother bringing Karadzic and Mladic to the dock unless it could hold a speedier, more effective trial than Milosevic's marathon process, which was often delayed by his health problems.