Serbia to Grant Military and State Honors for Convicted War Criminal Ratko Mladic

Ratko Mladic, the former military leader of the Bosnian Serbs convicted of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, will be buried with military and state honors. Serbian Minister of Justice Nenad Vujic announced the decision following the death of the 84 year old general on Thursday at the UN Detention Unit in The Hague, where he was serving a life sentence. Vujic stated that the burial location will be decided by the Mladic family and that the honors are consistent with protocol for generals.

Mladic, often referred to as the Butcher of Bosnia, was found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of orchestrating the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo. While the Serbian government and some nationalist figures view him as a national hero, representatives from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and survivors of the Srebrenica massacre have criticized the move as an attempt to glorify a convicted criminal. A spokesperson for the European Commission stated that the glorification of war criminals is contrary to fundamental European values and has no place in the EU or candidate countries.

The circumstances of Mladic's death have also become a point of contention. The Serbian government had repeatedly requested his release on humanitarian grounds due to terminal health issues, including strokes. While the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals has launched a standard inquiry into the death of a high profile prisoner, some Serbian nationalist voices and pro government media have characterized his death as a homicide. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed condolences to the family and criticized the conditions of Mladic's detention.

Reporting on the event varied by political lean. Center and center left outlets focused on the contradiction between Mladic's convictions for genocide and the state honors he is receiving. Center right outlets highlighted the internal Serbian narrative of Mladic as a martyr and a symbol of a people victimized by selective international justice.