Serbia welcomes return of war criminal Mladic’s body with military honours | Crimes Against Humanity News
Belgrade Honors Ratko Mladic Following Death in Custody
Former Bosnian Serb Commander Received Life Sentence for War Crimes
By Al Jazeera Staff
Published on September 3, 2026
The body of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army commander who died last week while serving a life sentence for war crimes, has returned to Belgrade for burial, receiving military honors upon arrival.
Mladic’s casket, draped in a Serbian national flag, was transported Thursday aboard a Serbian government plane from The Hague, Netherlands, where the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had been located.
Mladic, whose conviction in 2017 included charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, passed away in a United Nations detention facility at the age of 84. A written statement from the UN court confirmed that his remains were delivered to his family at Rotterdam The Hague Airport on Thursday afternoon.
Upon arrival in Belgrade, six soldiers carried the coffin from the plane, accompanied by Mladic’s son, Darko, and Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic. Vujic indicated that the family would share funeral arrangements in the coming days.
According to pro-government media, a military commemoration is scheduled for Saturday, with the funeral set for Monday. Vujic mentioned that Serbia’s police and state security agency anticipate that “tens of thousands” of people may attend the service.
Mladic is viewed as a controversial figure; many Serbs revere him as a hero despite his conviction by the UN tribunal. Vigils and marches have been held in his honor, reflecting the ongoing ethnic divisions in a region still recovering from the conflicts that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.
The Bosnian War ensued when Bosnian Serbs seized large territories to establish their own state, with Serbia providing support. Serbian officials assert that the West and the Hague tribunal unfairly hold Serbs accountable for the conflict’s atrocities while neglecting justice for victims of other nationalities.
Mladic gained notoriety during the war, which resulted in over 100,000 deaths and displaced more than one million individuals before concluding with a U.S.-brokered peace agreement in 1995. The massacre in Srebrenica—the first recognized genocide in Europe after World War II—was among the most harrowing events, where Serb forces executed Bosniak men and boys.
The tribunal in The Hague has reiterated its commitment to “the victims, survivors, and their families who suffered the crimes for which Mr. Mladic was found guilty,” and condemned the glorification of individuals convicted of war crimes and genocide.
As Serbia seeks to join the European Union, it remains assertive in its narrative regarding its wartime actions. The EU’s enlargement commissioner has emphasized that the glorification of war criminals is unacceptable for both member and candidate countries.
