A memorial service for Ratko Mladić, sentenced to life in prison for genocide and war crimes, was held at the Serbian Army House in Belgrade in the presence of family and comrades, along with several current and former officials from Serbia and Republika Srpska.
Ratko Mladić, the wartime commander of the Bosnian Serb army during the 1990s conflict, was finally convicted of the genocide in Srebrenica committed in July 1995, for the persecution and forcible transfer of Bosniaks and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, sniping, shelling and terrorizing civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, and for taking UN peacekeepers hostage in retaliation for the NATO bombing in 1995.
The memorial service was overshadowed by pro-government media due to a simultaneous session of the Central Committee of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) in Niš, which nominated head of state Aleksandar Vučić for prime minister, Hina reports.
According to media reports, the commemoration was attended by Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujić, the president of the Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska (RS) Siniša Karan, and the RS ministers of interior, labor, and veterans’ and disabled protection Željko Budimir and Radan Ostojić, along with family members.
Former officers and his comrades, as well as Russian historian Jelena Guskova, spoke about Mladić. According to Belgrade media, several hundred people were waiting to enter the Serbian Army House for the commemoration on Saturday.
Mladić died on August 27 in the custody of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague, where he was serving a life sentence.
His remains were flown to Belgrade on September 3 by a Serbian government plane and transferred to the Military Medical Academy due to – according to media reports – the family’s request for an autopsy.
The remains of General Ratko Mladić, considered a hero by many in Serbia and Republika Srpska, will be buried in a family grave, next to his daughter Ana, after a procession past the coffin, which will be displayed in a local church before burial.
