Butcher Of Bosnia

A commemoration was held Saturday in Belgrade for war criminal Ratko Mladic two days ahead of his burial, attended by dozens of former military personnel, family members and officials. Mladic died last week after suffering several strokes while serving a life sentence in The Hague for war crimes committed during the 1990s war in Bosnia.

His body was returned to Serbia on a government plane on Thursday, with his casket draped in flags and received with military honours. The 84-year-old will be buried at a Belgrade cemetery on Monday, in a ceremony expected to draw thousands of mourners despite international condemnation.

Serbian Hero

Around 300 people gathered at the commemoration ceremony, organised by an association of retired and active Serbian army generals. Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic attended, as well as officials from the Bosnian Serb statelet, Republika Srpska, including President Sinisa Karan. Dozens of supporters outside wore T-shirts featuring Mladic in uniform with the caption "Serbian Hero".

Speakers praised Mladic's role during the 1990s wars, describing him as a "towering figure both as a man and a soldier". Mladic's wartime atrocities earned him the nickname "Butcher of Bosnia". The UN court convicted him of genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where around 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in a UN-protected safe zone. Despite the verdicts, he is still hailed as a hero by some Serbs.