Thousands Attend Funeral of Convicted War Criminal Ratko Mladic in Belgrade

Thousands of people attended the funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic in Belgrade on Monday.

Mladic, who died on August 27 at age 84, was serving a life sentence imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). In 2017, the ICTY convicted Mladic of genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where an estimated 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed. His body lay in state at St. Luke church, where the main religious service was led by Patriarch Porfirije, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Mladic was buried with military honors at Topcider Cemetery beside his daughter, who died by suicide in 1994. Mourners carried Serbian flags and photographs of Mladic, with free buses provided from towns in Serbia and Bosnia. The funeral proceeded despite warnings from Brussels against glorifying Mladic. The EU stated, "Any glorification of war criminals, genocide denial and revisionism contradict the most fundamental European values."

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic did not attend the funeral, citing a previously scheduled visit, but his son Danilo Vucic, several Serbian ministers, and the Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexandar Botsan-Kharchenko were present. Vucic insisted the state was respecting the family's wishes for a dignified funeral and dismissed criticism from the EU, calling EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos's reaction stupid. Since Mladic's death, nationalist admirers have held vigils, painted murals, and chanted his name at football matches.