Thousands Attend Bosnian Serb War Criminal’s Funeral
Usagevpn.com – Thousands attend Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić at his final resting place in Belgrade, where a full military honouring — complete with orchestral music, a gun salute, and a coffin draped in the Serbian tricolour — took place at Košutnjak cemetery on Monday. The ceremony came barely seven days after the European Union reiterated its position that glorifying a convicted war criminal undermines Serbia’s path toward membership, a stance the Serbian government has repeatedly brushed aside.
A State-Backed Send-Off
The day before interment, Mladić’s casket had been laid out inside the Serb Orthodox Church of St Luke in central Belgrade, where thousands queued from dawn to file past the coffin. His officer’s cap and sabre rested atop the box, medals were arranged for public viewing, and uniformed guards flanked the structure. What followed was a procession of former servicemen, young supporters carrying banners with his image, and flags representing both Serbia and Republika Srpska. Hundreds of football supporters fell in alongside the march to the cemetery.
At the graveside, soldiers bore the flag-wrapped coffin while the assembled crowd erupted in applause. A ceremonial volley sounded, and a military band played. Patriarch Porfirije of the Serb Orthodox Church conducted the service and offered words of remembrance:
“His name will remain deeply etched in the memory and prayers of the Serb Orthodox people, who feel and nurture a deep sense of gratitude towards him.”
Behind the scenes, state machinery was unmistakable. Although the family technically organised the event, Belgrade had sent a government jet the prior week to fly the remains home, with Justice Minister Nenad Vujić riding aboard. Vujić publicly pledged “all the military and state honours” before President Aleksandar Vučić quietly retracted the remark. Earlier official guidance had ruled out artillery salutes, ceremonial troop deployments, and burial in either the Alley of the Greats or the Alley of Distinguished Citizens — despite petitions from the public demanding precisely those honours.
On the day itself, however, the ministers of justice, culture, defence, and public investments all appeared at the cemetery. Russian ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and Danilo Vučić, the president’s son, were present, alongside political representatives of the Bosnian Serb community. A separate military commemoration had been held on Saturday at an official army venue, which the government attributed to a veterans’ association of retired generals. The coffin’s final approach to the burial plot came by way of an unmarked maroon van, police-escorted along Belgrade’s principal motorway — a logistical detail that made clear how deeply the state had woven itself into what was nominally a private family matter.
Legal and Diplomatic Fallout
Marko Milosavljević, who leads research and advocacy at the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, contended that the visible participation of state institutions amounted to state honours — a privilege Serbian law revokes once a final conviction strips a person of military rank.
“After he was found guilty, he lost his rank in the army, and with that he lost the right to any state or military honours. But as we can see in practice, in Serbia the same rules don’t always apply.”
Milosavljević also pointed to the presence of Svetozar Andrić, Mladić’s wartime associate, who faces multiple criminal indictments including charges tied to the 1992 forced expulsion of Bosniaks from eastern Bosnia. His appearance at the funeral, Milosavljević argued, sent a clear message to other suspects still at large:
“This wave of celebration of Ratko Mladić absolutely encourages people like him who are still at large that they will never be held accountable for war crimes despite existing evidence.”
He further cautioned that Belgrade’s de facto honouring of a convicted war criminal could expose Serbia to proceedings under the European Convention on Human Rights. Survivors and families of victims convicted in Mladić’s case, he noted, could lodge non-discrimination complaints before the European Court of Human Rights — a path already trodden by relatives of victims from Vukovar and Kosovo, who have pursued reparations through Serbian domestic courts.
The timing sharpened the diplomatic stakes. Serbia, still an EU candidate country, had been urged by Brussels to demonstrate that it could reconcile its wartime legacy with the rule-of-law standards expected of future members. The spectacle of thousands attending a Bosnian Serb war criminal’s funeral with full state pageantry, analysts noted, made that reconciliation harder to claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was Ratko Mladić buried?
Mladić was interred at Košutnjak cemetery in Belgrade on Monday, following a state-attended ceremony that included a military orchestra, a gun salute, and a coffin wrapped in the Serbian national flag.
Why did the EU warn against the funeral?
The European Union renewed its position that glorifying a person convicted of genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia runs counter to the rule-of-law and human-rights commitments Serbia must meet as an EU candidate country.
Did the Serbian government officially organise the funeral?
The family formally arranged the event, but the government dispatched a state aircraft to transport the remains, and multiple ministers, a foreign ambassador, and the president’s son attended. Officials had initially stated there would be no military salutes or ceremonial troop presence, yet both occurred.
What legal consequences could follow for Serbia?
Human-rights advocates warned that the state’s visible participation could form the basis of non-discrimination claims under the European Convention on Human Rights, bringing Serbia before the European Court of Human Rights by families of victims of the crimes for which Mladić was convicted.
