Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb commander convicted by a UN court of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, was buried in Belgrade on Monday before a crowd of thousands, despite renewed warnings from Brussels against glorifying him — warnings Serbia's government continues to reject. Prior to the funeral, Mladić's body lay in state since Monday morning at the Serb Orthodox Church of St Luke in Belgrade, where thousands arrived early to honour him, despite being found guilty of the worst bloodbath on European soil since World War II. His military officer's cap and sabre rested on the coffin, which was flanked by men in fatigues, with his medals also on display.
The crowd gathered included his former soldiers in military garb and young men carrying banners with his image and flags of Serbia and the Bosnian Serb-majority entity of the Republika Srpska, as hundreds of football fans joined the procession to the Košutnjak graveyard. The crowd clapped as soldiers carried Mladić's coffin, a gun salute rang out and a military orchestra played. The head of the Serb Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije who led the funeral service, said Mladić's name would "remain deeply etched in the memory and prayers" of Serb Orthodox people who "feel and nurture a deep sense of gratitude towards him." Although it was earlier announced that no serving officials would be in attendance, Serbian justice, culture, defence and public investments ministers came to pay their respects, along with Russian ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and President Aleksandar Vučić's son Danilo.
Political representatives of Bosnian Serbs were also present. While the funeral arrangements were formally made by Mladić's family, the Serbian government sent a plane last week to bring his remains to Belgrade, accompanied by Justice Minister Nenad Vujić — who initially announced that Serbia would give Mladić "all the military and state honours," a decision Vučić later tempered. Soldiers carried Mladić's coffin wrapped in the national flag on arrival to an unmarked maroon van, which was then given a police escort down Belgrade’s main motorway.
A military commemoration was held Saturday at an official Serbian army venue, which the government said was organised by an association of retired generals. Authorities earlier said Mladić would not be buried with military or state honours. There would be no artillery salutes or ceremonial military presence, and he would not be buried in the Alley of the Greats or the Alley of Distinguished Citizens despite requests to that effect.
Yet according to head of research and advocacy at the Youth Initiative for Human Rights Marko Milosavljević, while Mladić's funeral as such is private and organised by the family, the pomp around it and the involvement of state institutions and representatives amounts to state honours — which Milosavljević points out are contrary to Serbian law. "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," Milosavljević told Euronews. "But as we can see in practice, in Serbia the same rules don’t always apply." Milosavljević pointed out that one of the organisers of Mladić's funeral is Svetozar Andrić, Mladić's wartime associate suspected of war crimes who is wanted on several criminal indictments, including for ordering the expulsion of Bosniaks from eastern Bosnia in 1992.
"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 explained. Milosavljević believes that by de facto honouring Mladić, Belgrade has opened itself up to a potential lawsuit over breaking the UN Convention on Human Rights — which was successfully litigated in the past elsewhere. Serbia, a candidate country for European Union membership, has faced strong criticism for honouring Mladić after his death.
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