Serbia holds funeral for convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic

Ratko Mladic, the former military leader of Bosnian Serb forces, received a funeral with state ceremonial honors in Serbia's capital, drawing thousands to the event. The high-profile service occurred years after Mladic's conviction at the International Criminal Court for orchestrating genocide against Bosniak Muslim populations during the devastating Balkan wars of the 1990s. He spent his final years imprisoned at the ICC facility in The Hague, where he died serving a life sentence.

The decision to afford Mladic state funeral honors reflects deeply contested interpretations of his legacy within Serbian society. While some view him through a nationalist lens, others, particularly victims of the Bosnian conflict and regional neighbors, regard him as a symbol of ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities. The ceremony underscored ongoing divisions about how Serbia processes its role in the 1990s wars.

Mladic's conviction stemmed from his command during operations that resulted in widespread violence against civilian populations, most notably during the Srebrenica massacre and other atrocities committed during the conflict. His case remained one of the International Criminal Court's highest-profile prosecutions, and his death closed a significant chapter in post-Yugoslav justice proceedings.