Thousands turn out in Serbia for funeral of 'Butcher of Bosnia' Ratko Mladić

A priest blesses the coffin of the late Bosnian Serb military leader Thousands of people have turned out in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, to attend the funeral of the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić. Widely known as the Butcher of Bosnia, Mladić died at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in the UN prison in The Hague, the Netherlands. He was found guilty of genocide by a UN war crimes tribunal for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, when around 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed. It was described as Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two. A Serbian government minister had initially said that Mladić would be given a state funeral but those plans were changed after objections from some European leaders.

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Scoop News DeskSerbia, American Samoa · Published Monday, September 7, 2026 at 2:50 PM UTCUpdated Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at 10:27 AM UTC

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Thousands took part in a public memorial on the day of the funeral ceremony "Ratko Mladić was a convicted war criminal who had committed war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity," the EU said in a statement. "Any glorification of war criminals, genocide denial and revisionism contradict the most fundamental European values and have no place in the EU or in EU candidate countries," the statement said. The war crimes tribunal "provided an incredibly detailed historical record of Mladić's crimes," she told the BBC, but the Serbian media and education system "has not reflected the true scale of his crimes or the perspectives of victims and survivors." Pro-government Serbian media "depict him as a loyal soldier who simply carried out his duties," Peled said. "It's extremely challenging for post-conflict societies to undertake a national reckoning or acknowledge responsibility for the crimes of the past." The night before the funeral, Red Star Belgrade supporters formed a tifo depicting Mladić during the Serbian SuperLiga football match The monstrous crimes of Ratko Mladic, the 'Butcher of Bosnia' Allan Little: I met dangerously fanatical Mladić early in Bosnian war 'We're worried about our future': Srebrenica massacre's tensions still felt 30 years on Watch our pick of standout clips from across the BBC Minister condemns disorder at Portsmouth anti-migrant protest after police officers hurt What we know about anti-migrant protests and organiser Danny Thomas King makes clear Harry and Meghan remain non-working royals Dads face homophobic abuse over wedding photos Chemo hair loss doesn't define me - it's a symbol that I'm strong Meet the furry faces empowering children to face their fears The volunteers risking their lives to defuse Indonesia's wildfire 'carbon bombs' The choir w… Mladić was arrested in 2011, 16 years after he was first indicted, and sentenced to life in prison in 2021 after a nine-year trial.

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