Ratko Mladić, the ‘Butcher of Bosnia,’ given a hero’s funeral in Serbia

Thousands of mourners gathered in Belgrade to give Ratko Mladić a hero’s funeral, turning the return of a convicted war criminal into a public display of national tribute.

Mladić, a Serbian general known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” was convicted of orchestrating the worst massacre in Europe since the Second World War. He was serving a life sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity when he died in prison in late August, aged 84.

Fanfare at the funeral has caused international alarm. It has also raised questions about Serbia’s plans to join the European Union, as the country confronts the public veneration of a figure convicted over his role in the 1990s Balkans genocide.