BELGRADE – American senators Jeanne Shaheen, Chuck Grassley, and Congressman Keith Self, urged the governments of Serbia and Republika Srpska to refrain from any connection with today’s funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić and to ensure that no public statement or official act honors him.
“The coming days will be a test of whether Serbia and Republika Srpska are ready to break with the past and progress towards EU accession and Euro-Atlantic integration, or whether they will allow the past to once again stand in the way of a better future for their people,” the letter said ahead of Mladić’s funeral in Belgrade.
US officials say it is deeply concerning that Serbia announced that Mladić would be buried with state and military honors, and that Milorad Dodik, former President of RS, celebrated Mladić as a “fighter for Serbian freedom”.
“Ratko Mladić was a war criminal and architect of the Srebrenica genocide, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed. His forces were also responsible for the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo, one of the longest in modern history. Together, his actions represent some of the most inhumane crimes committed on European soil since World War II”, the Senators and a congressman said.
Former commander of the army of Republika Srpska Ratko Mladić, sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and other war crimes during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, will be buried today at the Topčider Cemetery in Belgrade, after the funeral service in the Church of St. Luke, where the coffin with his body is displayed.
In front of the Church of St. Luke a large number of people gathered even before the opening of the gates. The gathering is secured by the police.
A member of the team for the organization of Mladić’s funeral, General Svetozar Andrić, as reported by RTRS, announced that Mladić would be buried with the highest military honors. A memorial service for Ratko Mladić was held on 5 September, at the Army House in Belgrade. According to the media, the commemoration was attended by the Minister of Justice of Serbia Nenad Vujić, the President of RS Siniša Karan, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska Željko Budimir, and the Minister of Labor and, Veteral and Disability Protection of RS Radan Ostojić.
“Serbia has not declared a state funeral for Ratko Mladić, but essentially the state has done almost everything to assist it”, media in the region report today, stating that the death of a war criminal could be the last opportunity to draw a clear line between respect for the dead and glorification of a man convicted of genocide.
“Instead, his return from the Hague and funeral preparations have turned into another act of denial, historical revisionism and insulting the victims” Klix.ba notes.
The line between a private funeral and a state tribute was deliberately blurred, because the government retained the ability to act as a protector of Mladić’s “character and work” to the domestic public, while claiming to Brussels that it did not organize a state ceremony, the web portal states, stressing that “this is best seen in the behavior of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who will not attend Mladic’s funeral, justifying the absence with previously agreed state obligation”.
Although he did not attend the commemoration, Vučić said publicly that he had done everything so that Mladić “will be buried with dignity”, the article notes.
Vučić had earlier criticized the Hague tribunal for not allowing Mladić to spend his last days in Serbia, calling these actions “anti-civilization”, and criticized the decision by EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos to cancel his visit to Belgrade for glorifying a war criminal as “stupid”.
The President of Serbia is physically distancing himself from an event that may further his jeopardize relations with the European Union, but at the same time ensures state logistics and sends messages aimed at the nationalist part of the electorate. He does not appear before the coffin, but the state infrastructure was already there, the article stresses.
Portal Index.hr report that thousands of people gathered to “see the coffin” of the convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.
The web portal also quotes Mothers of Srebrenica Association, which reacted to the banner “Direction Potočari”, seen at the football match in Belgrade, featured a giant portrait of Mladić. They stated that “the chetnik ideology has been reawakening”.
