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Škare Ožbolt: Mladić May Not Be Sent to Serbia, and Could Be Buried in The Hague
🇭🇷 Croatia /Conflict & Security

Škare Ožbolt: Mladić May Not Be Sent to Serbia, and Could Be Buried in The Hague

From Večernji List · () Croatian

Translated from Croatian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Under investigation
  • Vesna Škare Ožbolt says Ratko Mladić’s body may not be transferred from The Hague to Serbia while an investigation into the circumstances of his death continues.
  • Serbia has indicated that Mladić, who was convicted of genocide and war crimes, could receive a state funeral, prompting criticism across the region.
  • Škare Ožbolt says such honors could expose Serbia to serious criticism or sanctions and affect its path toward the European Union.

Ratko Mladić may never be returned to Serbia for burial, former Croatian Justice Minister Vesna Škare Ožbolt said, because an investigation into the circumstances of his death is still open.

Mladić has not even been transported yet, and the question is whether he will be transported at all.

— Vesna Škare OžboltShe discussed whether Mladić’s body would be transferred to Serbia.

“Mladić has not even been transported yet, and the question is whether he will be transported at all,” Škare Ožbolt said in an interview on N1 television. She said the president of the Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals had opened the investigation and that no decision on transporting the body would be made until it ends.

“Perhaps they will not send him to Serbia at all. Perhaps he will remain buried there,” she said. The comment came after announcements in Serbia that Mladić might be buried with full state honors, a prospect that has drawn reactions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and other countries in the region.

Perhaps they will not send him to Serbia at all. Perhaps he will remain buried there.

— Vesna Škare OžboltShe said the investigation into his death could affect the transfer decision.

Mladić, the former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, died in The Hague after receiving a final life sentence. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted him in 2017 of genocide in Srebrenica, persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, terror and other crimes committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Mechanism’s appeals chamber confirmed the life sentence in 2021.

Anyone who denies this judgment and this sentence, and glorifies Mladić, in effect in some way glorifies genocide.

— Vesna Škare OžboltShe criticized possible state honors for a man convicted of genocide.

Škare Ožbolt called the idea of a state farewell problematic because of that final international conviction. “Anyone who denies this judgment and this sentence, and glorifies Mladić, in effect in some way glorifies genocide,” she said. She also criticized what she described as a weak European Union reaction. If Serbia gives Mladić a state funeral, she said, it could face serious criticism and possible sanctions, while sending a political message with consequences for its European path. “When a state, in this case Serbia, begins celebrating and sending off with honors such a man, then it also assumes part of the responsibility,” she said.

When a state, in this case Serbia, begins celebrating and sending off with honors such a man, then it also assumes part of the responsibility.

— Vesna Škare OžboltShe warned that a state funeral could carry political consequences for Serbia.
About this summary

Originally published by Večernji List in Croatian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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