Mladić to be buried with a guard of honor and full honors, organizer says

Ratko Mladić, the former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska who was convicted of genocide and other wartime crimes, will be buried with a guard of honor, a ceremonial volley and what organizers describe as the highest honors.

Svetozar Andrić, a member of the team organizing the funeral, told the Srna news agency that a service will be held at noon at St. Paul’s Church. Mladić’s remains are to lie in state at St. Luke’s Church in Vidikovac from 7 a.m. until noon, when the service will begin.

A procession will then travel to Topčider Cemetery, where Mladić will be buried beside his daughter Ana. On arrival, an honor unit will accompany the remains to the grave, followed by the ceremonial volley and farewell speeches. Organizers also said they would coordinate the arrival of people from Republika Srpska and Serbia. Serbian flags had been placed near the church approaches since the morning.

Mladić was sentenced to life imprisonment in The Hague for genocide in Srebrenica in July 1995, as well as the persecution and forced transfer of Bosniaks and Croats across Bosnia and Herzegovina. His conviction also covered sniper attacks, shelling and terror against civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, and the taking of U.N. peacekeepers hostage during NATO’s 1995 bombing campaign.

He died on Aug. 27 in the custody of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague, where he was serving his life sentence. His remains arrived in Belgrade on Sept. 3 and were transferred to the Military Medical Academy after his family requested an autopsy. A memorial ceremony was held the previous day at the Serbian Army House in Belgrade, attended by officials from Republika Srpska and Serbia.

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He will be buried with a guard of honor and the highest honors.