The body of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army commander who received a life sentence from a UN court for war crimes, has returned to Belgrade for burial. Mladic died last week while serving his sentence in a UN detention facility at the age of 84. His remains were transported on a Serbian government plane from The Hague, Netherlands, where the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was located.
Mladic was convicted in 2017 of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. The UN court confirmed that his remains were handed over to his next of kin at Rotterdam The Hague Airport. In Belgrade, the casket, draped in the national flag, was carried by six soldiers, accompanied by Mladic’s son, Darko, and Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic, who stated that the family would announce funeral plans soon.
Pro-government media reported that a military commemoration is scheduled for Saturday, with the funeral planned for Monday. Vujic indicated that Serbia’s police and state security agency expect “tens of thousands” of attendees at the service. Many Serbs view Mladic as a hero despite his conviction, and vigils and marches in his honor have drawn criticism in a region still affected by ethnic divisions following the wars of the 1990s.
The Bosnian War began when Bosnia’s Serbs sought to establish their own state, supported by Serbia. The conflict resulted in over 100,000 deaths and left more than 1 million people homeless. The Srebrenica massacre was recognized as Europe’s first genocide after World War II, where Bosniak men and boys were killed and buried in mass graves.
The tribunal in The Hague expressed solidarity with the victims and condemned any actions that glorify individuals convicted of war crimes. Serbia is pursuing European Union membership but maintains a defiant stance regarding its role in the war. The EU’s enlargement commissioner emphasized that glorifying war criminals is unacceptable for EU member states and candidates.