Thousands Gather in Belgrade for Funeral of Convicted War Criminal Ratko Mladić

Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade on September 7 for the funeral of Ratko Mladić, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army. Mladić died on August 27 at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia issued the life sentence in 2017, a verdict that was finalized in 2021. Mladić never admitted guilt during the legal process.

The funeral ceremony at Topčider cemetery included high profile attendees such as Serbian government ministers, the son of the Serbian president, the Russian ambassador, and Milorad Dodik, the informal leader of the Bosnian Serbs. The ceremony was conducted by Serbian Patriarch Porfirije. While the Serbian government initially described the event as a private matter and claimed the state only provided logistics and security, reports indicate the event received significant state support, including police cordons. Approximately 16,000 people attended the peak of the crowd, many of whom were transported by buses. Prior to the burial, a civilian memorial was held at the House of the Army, and football fans observed a minute of silence during a match between Red Star and Partizan on September 6.

Center left sources frame the event as a glorification of a war criminal by the Serbian government. One report suggests that the national populist leadership used the funeral to reinforce a national myth that portrays Mladić as a victim rather than a perpetrator. Another center left report questions whether these actions will impact Serbia's accession to the European Union.