Thousands turn out in Serbia for funeral of 'Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko Mladić

Thousands of individuals have turned out in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, to attend the funeral of the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.

Key points

• Ratko Mladić commanded Bosnian Serb forces in the 1990s against the Bosnian Croat and Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) armies.
• During the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, his troops committed what became known as "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia-Herzegovina in a bid to expel the non-Serbian population by force.
• Mladić was arrested in 2011, 16 years after he was first indicted, and sentenced to life in prison in 2021 after a nine-year trial.
• On Sunday night, fans of the Serbian football club Red Star Belgrade unveiled a display of Mladic before their derby win over Partizan Belgrade.
• Widely known as the Butcher of Bosnia, Mladić died at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in the UN prison in The Hague, the Netherlands.

When around 8, 000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed, he was discovered guilty of genocide by a UN war crimes tribunal for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. It was described as Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.

According to A Serbian administration minister had initially, mladić would be given a state funeral but those intends were changed after objections from some European leaders. On Monday, the EU denounced Mladić's "glorification".

"Ratko Mladić was a convicted war criminal who had committed war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, " the EU remarked in an official note.

"Any glorification of war criminals, genocide denial and revisionism contradict the most fundamental European values and have no place in the EU or in EU candidate countries, " the statement remarked.

Serbia has been a candidate to join the EU since 2012, even though membership discussions have lately stalled.

During the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, his troops committed what became known as "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia-Herzegovina in a bid to expel the non-Serbian population by force. They besieged the capital city of Sarajevo, with the deaths of more than 10, 000 individuals.

Despite his conviction for genocide, Mladić remains a national figure perceived by plenty of Serbs as a heroic defender of the nation.

Plenty of Serb nationalists see him as a hero and protector, particularly in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska, where his death sparked vigils.

For context, a number of Serbian administration ministers joined the crowds paying tribute outside the church where Mladić lay in state before the burial, including the Defence Minister Bratislav Gašić, and the Minister of Justice Nenad Vujić, local media documented.

Notably, the funeral service was led by the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije. This person remarked Mladić's name would remain "deeply etched in the memory and prayers of the majority of our Serbian Orthodox people, who feel and nurture a deep sense of gratitude towards him".

As individuals waited to go in and pay their respects to the coffin, early in the day, long queues formed outside the small St Luka church. Plenty of of those in the crowds were army veterans and some men were draped in flags printed with his picture on.

Crowds arrived a number of hours before the funeral began to light candles outside the church, accompanied by a choir on a loudspeaker in the sunshine.

While his wife, son, and grandchildren stood inside receiving condolences, inside the church, Mladić's coffin was guarded by a number of men, mainly war veterans.

In a sign of the reverence held for the former general, his coffin was flown back to Serbia last week on a administration plane, and was carried from the plane by six soldiers and draped in flags.

Free bus services were organised from Bosnia and most towns in Serbia for anyone who wanted to pay their respects.

On Sunday night, fans of the Serbian football club Red Star Belgrade unveiled a display of Mladic before their derby win over Partizan Belgrade. For others, the funeral has rekindled painful memories of the war.

For context, a woman in Sarajevo called Zdravka Gvozdjar – whose nine-year-old son was killed by Mladić-led forces during the siege of the city – informed Reuters news agency it was "really horrible" that the funeral was taking place in Belgrade.

Mladić "deserved to be erased from memory for good, not to be. Promoted as a hero, " she remarked. "He should be remembered only as a butcher."

Thousands attended the funeral since he "remains a figure of national pride and defiance, " stated Daniella Peled, Editor at the Institute of War and Peace Reporting NGO – who covered Mladić's war crimes trial in detail.

For context, the war crimes tribunal "provided an incredibly detailed historical record of Mladić's crimes, " she informed the BBC, but the Serbian media and education system "has not reflected the true scale of his crimes or the perspectives of victims and survivors."

Pro-government Serbian media "depict him as a loyal soldier who simply carried out his duties, " Peled remarked.

"It's extremely challenging for post-conflict societies to undertake a national reckoning or acknowledge responsibility for the crimes of the past."

Taken together, the developments around thousands turn out in Serbia for funeral of ' Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.