A vast crowd gathers for Ratko Mladić’s funeral in Belgrade

A large crowd gathered in Belgrade for the funeral of Ratko Mladić, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army who was convicted of genocide in Srebrenica, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mladić was sentenced to life in prison and died in a hospital in The Hague on Aug. 27, aged 84.

His coffin was placed early in the morning at St Luke’s Church in the Košutnjak area. Relatives, veterans and other funeral participants began arriving, and Serbian media reported that the numbers were already large enough to disrupt traffic on Knez Višeslava Street.

The coffin was due to remain at the church until noon, when an Orthodox service was scheduled to begin. Serbian Patriarch Porfirije was expected to lead the service. The funeral procession was then to travel to Topčider Cemetery, where burial in the family tomb was planned for around 1:30 p.m.

Large screens were installed outside the church to broadcast the ceremony because of the expected turnout. Roads in the Košutnjak area were heavily congested as the crowd continued to grow.

Mladić spent his final years of imprisonment in poor health and suffered several strokes. His family repeatedly asked for him to be transferred to Serbia for medical treatment, but the court rejected the requests. Before the funeral, his son Darko Mladić appealed for the farewell to take place peacefully and without incidents. The family again criticized his treatment in The Hague, claiming that he had not received adequate medical care.

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peacefully and without incidents