Thousands of Ratko Mladic's supporters bid farewell to him in Belgrade after his body was returned from The Hague

Author, News Department

Place of work, BBC Russian Service

Published 7 hours ago

Reading time: 5 min

Thousands of supporters of Ratko Mladic, the former Republika Srpska army commander sentenced to life in prison for war crimes and genocide in Srebrenica in 1995, marched to the Topside Cemetery after a memorial service at St. Luke's Church in the Vidikovac district of Belgrade.

For them, Mladic is not a war criminal, but “a hero who defended the Serbian people.” Many arrived in an organized manner, on buses from the Republika Srpska - one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina - and from other cities in Serbia.

Mladic's coffin was delivered from The Hague, where the 84-year-old general died in a prison hospital last Thursday. When the coffin was taken out of the plane, it was received by soldiers of the Serbian army and covered with the flags of Serbia and Republika Srpska.

On the way from the airport to the Military Medical Academy, where Mladic’s body was taken, the motorcade was greeted by dozens of people with posters: “Heroes don’t die,” “Thank you, mom,” “Welcome home, general,” “General, thank you.” On some overpasses, torches and smoke bombs were lit in the colors of the Serbian flag. Some police and military personnel saluted the convoy.

Mladic's coffin was on display in the church in Vidikovac, on the outskirts of Belgrade, from 7 am to noon on September 7. A church funeral service took place on Monday morning. Among those present at the church were Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic, Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic, Minister without Portfolio Nenad Popovic, Chairman of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats of the Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, Banja Luka Mayor Drasko Stanivukovic and the son of Serbian President Danilo Vucic.

The Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan Kharchenko was also present in the church.

On the coffin lay his cap and medals he received during his military service.

“I came to see off the remains of our general,” Dusanka Todorovic from Belgrade told the BBC Serbian Service at the entrance to the church.

“Ratko Mladic is a genius, he embodies everything that can be said in the best sense about any person,” she answered when asked what this military commander of the Republika Srpska Army means to her.

Vuk Marinovic, chairman of the youth wing of the parliamentary opposition New Democratic Party of Serbia, echoes these sentiments: “I came to pay tribute to the great Serbian hero Ratko Mladic, who will forever remain in the collective memory of our people precisely as a hero who fought against the West.”

“He did a lot for the Serbian people at a time when it was not easy, he took on enormous responsibility when many did not dare to do so, he showed that he is a great man with a big heart,” Marinovich told the BBC.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic previously stated that, according to intelligence services, tens of thousands of people are expected at the funeral.

The funeral service was led by Patriarch Porfiriy, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which called the man convicted in The Hague "an Orthodox Christian and a Serbian soldier."

The funeral began at 14:00 local time at the Topčider cemetery in Belgrade, where Mladic's daughter, Ana, was also buried three decades ago.

Upon arrival at the cemetery, Mladić's remains were escorted to the burial site by a guard of honor.

“Glorifying genocide is a shame”