Serbia confirms Ratko Mladić will receive highest state funeral honours

Serbia has confirmed that Ratko Mladić will be buried with the highest state honours, Justice Minister Nenad Vujić said in an interview with Alternative TV (ATV) in Banja Luka following the former general's death at age 85.

Government protocol and the family's decision

Vujić told ATV that official protocols surrounding a general will be observed and that the state intends to respect the position Mladić held. He added that Republika Srpska itself is not the body that will decide the burial site and that the family will determine where he is laid to rest.

In his words to the broadcaster, Vujić said: "General Mladić is a general and the protocols are known. His role is also known, but what belongs to General Mladić will certainly be respected. I note that Republika Srpska is not one to decide here, the family will also decide on the place where he will be buried because that is the family's matter," Vujić told ATV.

Vujić said he expects the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (the Mechanism) to set a timetable so Serbian authorities can complete the necessary procedures. He added that if they were told tomorrow to collect the body, they would be in The Hague that same morning to take possession of Mladić's remains.

Mladić was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Mechanism for genocide in Srebrenica, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He served as commander of the Main Staff of the Army of the Republika Srpska from 1992 to 1996, was arrested in Serbia in May 2011 and subsequently transferred to the Hague tribunal.

In 2021 the appeals chamber of the Mechanism upheld the first-instance life sentence. Ratko Mladić died today at the age of 85.

Photo: press material from the event