‘Direction Potocari’: From the Srebrenica genocide to a Belgrade football match

“Pravac Potocari,” or “Direction Potocari,” was the phrase used by former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic when he entered Srebrenica on July 11, 1995. On Sunday, Red Star Belgrade fans used the same words to honour the man convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

During the match against city rival Partizan at Belgrade’s Marakana stadium, supporters unveiled a giant image of Mladic and observed a minute of silence in his memory. Mladic died in The Hague on Aug. 27 while serving a life sentence. The slogan referred to Potocari, where a United Nations peacekeeping base stood and where Bosniak refugees initially gathered during the war. Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic’s command went on to commit genocide against thousands of Bosniak men and boys.

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Glorifying a convicted war criminal is nothing new, but officially paying tribute to him with a minute of silence is new, and it’s the most shameful event this stadium has witnessed.

The tribute came days after UEFA fined Red Star 98,250 euros, or $114,100, over a banner reading “General, eternal glory and thanks.” Club ultras displayed it during a Europa League playoff away match in Plzen, Czech Republic. UEFA also banned Red Star supporters from the club’s next two European away fixtures, in Lugano on Oct. 15 and Ghent on Nov. 26.

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Displaying the shameful slogan ‘Pravac Potocari’ cannot be justified, though in the coming days we’ll surely see attempts to do so.

Slobodan Georgiev, news director at Serbia’s TV Nova S, said the latest incident represented a shift. “Glorifying a convicted war criminal is nothing new, but officially paying tribute to him with a minute of silence is new, and it’s the most shameful event this stadium has witnessed,” he said. “Displaying the shameful slogan ‘Pravac Potocari’ cannot be justified, though in the coming days we’ll surely see attempts to do so.”

Georgiev said Serbian football terraces have long carried the most extreme messages. “Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, the terraces have served as a recruitment centre for paramilitary formations, and in various forms that haven’t changed to this day,” he said. Partizan’s hardcore supporters had also honoured Mladic a week earlier with a banner reading “General, thank you,” while his flag flew over the north stand for an entire Serbian Super Liga match.

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Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, the terraces have served as a recruitment centre for paramilitary formations, and in various forms that haven’t changed to this day.