Convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic gets hero’s burial in Serbia

What the report says

Thousands of people gathered in Belgrade, Serbia, for the funeral of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb army general convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Al Jazeera reported that Mladic died on Aug. 27 while serving a life sentence and that his body was returned to Serbia on a government plane before the burial, which took place on Monday with full military honours and the participation of some government members.

The funeral drew a mix of Serbian opposition figures, officials from Republika Srpska, politicians from neighbouring Montenegro and Russia’s ambassador to Serbia. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic did not attend, though the report says he supported what he called a dignified funeral. Police restricted access around the church and cemetery, and the main religious service was led by the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The ceremony prompted criticism from EU officials, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and civil society groups, who warned against the glorification of a convicted war criminal. Al Jazeera noted that Mladic remains a deeply divisive figure in the Balkans because of his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, when Bosnian Serb forces under his command killed more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, a crime ruled genocide by an international tribunal. The article says the case continues to shape regional politics, memory and disputes over wartime accountability.