Convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic gets hero’s burial in Serbia

Thousands attend Belgrade funeral of former Bosnian Serb army general convicted of orchestrating Srebrenica genocide.

Serbia holds funeral for convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina/Belgrade, Serbia – Thousands of people have gathered in Belgrade for the funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, despite warnings against the “glorification” of the former Bosnian Serb army general.

Mladic, 84, died on August 27 while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His body was returned to Serbia on a government plane last week, sparking condemnation in the region and beyond.

Dubbed “ the butcher of Bosnia “, Mladic was buried on Monday in a coffin wrapped in the Serbian flag, with full military honours and the participation of government members.

Among those in attendance were Serbian opposition figures; former and current officials of Republika Srpska, one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s two entities; pro-Serbian politicians from neighbouring Montenegro and Russia’s Ambassador to Serbia Alexandar Botsan-Kharchenko.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who has sought to maintain good relations with both Western countries and Russia, did not attend the funeral. Mladic’s family had publicly thanked the president for his support, and Vucic also backed what he described as a “dignified funeral”. Vucic’s son, Danilo, was also present at the funeral.

Ahead of the ceremony, the police had blocked off the parts of the city where the church and the cemetery are located.

From the early morning, Mladic’s body lay in state at St. Luke church near the cemetery. The main religious service was led by Patriarch Porfirije, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Some people waited for hours to pay their respects to Mladic, whose legacy continues to divide Serbian society and fuel tensions in the region, even 30 years after the end of the war.

Serbian Orthodox priests hold a ceremony during the funeral of Ratko Mladic [Uros Arsic/Reuters]

Last week, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos cancelled an official visit to Belgrade over Mladic’s funeral. She said “the glorification surrounding his death is incompatible with the values on which the EU path is built”, adding that the way Mladic was being treated in Serbia reminded Europe of “the darkest pages of our recent history”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned against actions that glorify convicted war criminals.

Civil society organisations in Serbia criticised and protested the decision to give Mladic military honours, calling it a slap in the face to victims and survivors.

Belgrade-based sociologist Marko Oljaca said that although President Vucic did not attend the funeral, he had mobilised an entire machinery that mythologises and humanises Mladic while denying and relativising his crimes.

“It is cowardly, but the fact that he is a coward does not mean he is not dangerous,” Oljaca told Al Jazeera.

The legacy of the war and the Srebrenica genocide

Mladic was one of the best-known and most notorious military commanders of the wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia.

The most infamous part of his legacy is linked to the genocide in Srebrenica, in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with Serbia. Bosnian Serb forces under Mladic’s command captured Srebrenica in July 1995, despite the UN having declared the municipality a “safe area”.

After the enclave fell, Mladic’s forces killed more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, in one of the worst crimes committed in Europe since World War II, an atrocity that has been ruled a genocide by a UN court.

Some civilians were captured and executed at locations in and around Srebrenica. Others were killed after attempting to flee through the forests towards territory controlled by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The victims’ remains were later found in numerous mass graves, while many victims were identified years after the war. The remains of some 1,000 victims are still being sought.

Military career and the war

Mladic was born in the village of Bozanovici, near Kalinovik, about 40km (25 miles) south of Sarajevo. He began his military career in the Yugoslav People’s Army and gradually rose through the army’s command structure.

When Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in the spring of 1992, following Slovenia and Croatia, Bosnian Serbs established their own political and military structures and proclaimed the Republika Srpska, covering approximately half of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s territory.

In May 1992, Mladic was appointed commander of the Bosnian Serb army.

Over the next three and a half years, he sought to seize parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the capital, Sarajevo.

His forces failed to make major territorial gains, but committed numerous crimes across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Arrest and conviction

Before his arrest in May 2011 in the village of Lazarevo, near Zrenjanin, about 80km (50 miles) northeast of Belgrade, Mladic had spent nearly 16 years hiding in Serbia.

He was one of Europe’s most wanted fugitives accused of war crimes. After his arrest, he was extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, where he was sentenced to life in prison.

Although his convictions were final, Mladic continued to enjoy support among parts of the public and political circles in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In May 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring July 11 the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.

The resolution aims to preserve the memory of the victims and promote a culture of remembrance, while reaffirming the importance of confronting genocide denial and preventing the recurrence of such crimes.

Natasa Kovacev reported from Belgrade and Armin Aljovic from Sarajevo.

数千人参加了在贝尔格莱德举行的前波斯尼亚塞族军队将军的葬礼，他因策划斯雷布雷尼察种族灭绝而被定罪。

塞尔维亚为被判犯有战争罪的拉特科·姆拉迪奇举行葬礼

波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那萨拉热窝/塞尔维亚贝尔格莱德——尽管有人警告不要“美化”这位前波斯尼亚塞族军队将军，但仍有数千人聚集在贝尔格莱德参加被定罪的战争罪犯拉特科·姆拉迪奇的葬礼。

84岁的姆拉迪奇于8月27日去世，此前他因在1992年至1995年波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那战争期间犯下的种族灭绝罪、战争罪和反人类罪而被判处终身监禁。上周，他的遗体由塞尔维亚政府专机运回塞尔维亚，引发了该地区及其他地区的强烈谴责。

被冠以“波斯尼亚屠夫”之名的姆拉迪奇于周一下葬，棺材上覆盖着塞尔维亚国旗，葬礼以最高军事荣誉举行，政府成员也出席了葬礼。

出席者包括塞尔维亚反对派人士；波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那两个实体之一的塞族共和国的前任和现任官员；来自邻国黑山的亲塞尔维亚政治家以及俄罗斯驻塞尔维亚大使亚历山大·博岑-哈尔琴科。

塞尔维亚总统亚历山大·武契奇一直致力于与西方国家和俄罗斯保持良好关系，因此他没有出席葬礼。姆拉迪奇的家人曾公开感谢总统的支持，武契奇也表示支持这场他称之为“庄严的葬礼”。武契奇的儿子达尼洛也出席了葬礼。

仪式开始前，警方封锁了教堂和墓地所在的城区。

从清晨开始，姆拉迪奇的遗体就停放在墓地附近的圣路加教堂供人瞻仰。塞尔维亚东正教大牧首波尔菲里耶主持了主要的宗教仪式。一些人等候数小时，只为向姆拉迪奇致敬。即使在战争结束30年后，姆拉迪奇的遗留问题仍然撕裂着塞尔维亚社会，加剧着该地区的紧张局势。

塞尔维亚东正教神父在拉特科·姆拉迪奇的葬礼上举行仪式 [乌罗斯·阿尔西奇/路透社]

上周，欧盟扩大事务专员玛尔塔·科斯取消了对贝尔格莱德的正式访问，以抗议姆拉迪奇的葬礼。她表示，“围绕他之死的颂扬与欧盟赖以建立的价值观背道而驰”，并补充说，姆拉迪奇在塞尔维亚的遭遇让欧洲想起了“近代史上最黑暗的篇章”。

联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯也警告不要采取美化被定罪的战争罪犯的行动。

塞尔维亚民间社会组织批评并抗议授予姆拉迪奇军事荣誉的决定，称这是对受害者和幸存者的侮辱。

贝尔格莱德的社会学家马尔科·奥利亚卡表示，虽然武契奇总统没有出席葬礼，但他动员了一整套机器，将姆拉迪奇神化和人化，同时否认和淡化他的罪行。

“这很懦弱，但他懦弱并不意味着他不危险，”奥尔贾卡告诉半岛电视台。

战争的遗留问题和斯雷布雷尼察大屠杀

姆拉迪奇是南斯拉夫解体后战争中最著名、最臭名昭著的军事指挥官之一。

他最臭名昭著的罪行与波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那东部靠近塞尔维亚边境的斯雷布雷尼察种族灭绝事件有关。尽管联合国已宣布该地区为“安全区”，但在姆拉迪奇的指挥下，波斯尼亚塞族部队于1995年7月占领了斯雷布雷尼察。

飞地陷落后，姆拉迪奇的部队杀害了 8000 多名波斯尼亚族男子和男孩，这是二战以来欧洲最严重的罪行之一，联合国法庭已裁定这是一起种族灭绝暴行。

一些平民在斯雷布雷尼察及其周边地区被俘并处决。另一些平民在试图逃往波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那共和国军队控制的地区时被杀害。

后来，人们在众多乱葬坑中发现了遇难者的遗骸，许多遇难者的身份是在战后多年才被确认。目前，仍有约1000名遇难者的遗骸在搜寻中。

军旅生涯与战争

姆拉迪奇出生于卡利诺维克附近的博扎诺维奇村，该村位于萨拉热窝以南约 40 公里（25 英里）处。他的军旅生涯始于南斯拉夫人民军，并逐步晋升至军队指挥层。

1992 年春天，继斯洛文尼亚和克罗地亚之后，波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那宣布脱离南斯拉夫独立。波斯尼亚塞族人建立了自己的政治和军事机构，并宣布成立塞族共和国，该共和国约占波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那领土的一半。

1992年5月，姆拉迪奇被任命为波斯尼亚塞族军队司令。

在接下来的三年半时间里，他试图夺取波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那共和国军队控制的波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那部分地区，包括首都萨拉热窝。

他的部队未能取得重大的领土扩张，但在波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那犯下了许多罪行。

逮捕和定罪

2011 年 5 月，姆拉迪奇在贝尔格莱德东北约 80 公里（50 英里）的兹雷尼亚宁附近的拉扎雷沃村被捕。在此之前，他已经在塞尔维亚躲藏了近 16 年。

他是欧洲最受通缉的逃犯之一，被控犯有战争罪。被捕后，他被引渡到位于海牙的前南斯拉夫问题国际刑事法庭，并被判处终身监禁。

尽管姆拉迪奇的定罪已成定局，但他仍然在塞尔维亚和波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那的部分公众和政治圈中享有支持。

2024 年 5 月，联合国大会通过决议，宣布 7 月 11 日为 1995 年斯雷布雷尼察大屠杀国际反思和纪念日。

该决议旨在铭记受害者，促进纪念文化，同时重申打击种族灭绝否认行为和防止此类罪行再次发生的重要性。

娜塔莎·科瓦切夫 (Natasa Kovacev) 从贝尔格莱德报道，阿明·阿尔约维奇 (Armin Aljovic) 从萨拉热窝报道。