Serbia confirms Ratko Mladic will receive state funeral

Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander convicted of war crimes and genocide, will be buried with full state honors in Serbia, according to Justice Minister Nenad Vujić.

Mladic, who died at 83 in The Hague, will receive a funeral befitting his military rank. Vujić stated that preparations will adhere to the established protocols, acknowledging Mladic's controversial role while asserting that "everything corresponding to General Mladic will undoubtedly be respected."

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The general Mladic was a general and the protocols are known. His role is also known, but everything corresponding to General Mladic will undoubtedly be respected.

Serbia is currently awaiting a timeline from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for the repatriation of Mladic's body. Vujić assured that Serbian authorities are prepared to proceed immediately once authorization is granted, indicating readiness to travel to The Hague at short notice.

While the exact burial site is yet to be determined and will be decided by the family, speculation in the Serbian press suggests a possible burial in Belgrade's Topcider cemetery, alongside his deceased daughter Ana. Mladic commanded Bosnian Serb forces during the 1990s Bosnian War. He was convicted in 2017 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide in Srebrenica, the siege of Sarajevo, and other war crimes, with his life sentence upheld on appeal in 2021.

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We expect the Mechanism to provide us with a schedule for the procedures and the steps we need to follow. If they told us to go tomorrow morning, we would be prepared: we would go to The Hague and take charge of General Mladic's body.