Red Star fans unveil tifo honoring war criminal Ratko Mladic before derby

Red Star Belgrade supporters unveiled a tifo honoring convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic before Sunday night’s derby victory over Partizan Belgrade.

Mladic, who died in a United Nations prison in August, received a life sentence in 2017 for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. During the wars in the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1995, he and his troops carried out the systematic killing of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s non-Serb population.

He oversaw the massacre of 8,000 men and boys at Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo, where more than 10,000 people died. Red Star has already received 90,000 euros in UEFA fines this season after supporters displayed a banner commemorating Mladic during a Europa League playoff against Czech club FC Viktoria Plzen last month.

Red Star’s social media accounts posted a video of the tifo and showed both teams observing a minute’s silence for Mladic, alongside a saluting emoji. Bosnia-Herzegovina’s national team replied from its official X account with an obscenity.

Mladic spent more than a decade on the run after initially receiving protection from Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who later died while on trial for genocide himself. Mladic was eventually found hiding in a remote farmhouse. He remains a celebrated figure for some in Serbia, with thousands gathering at a Belgrade church for his funeral on Monday.