Overview
- Ratko Mladic, who died Thursday while serving a life sentence at the Hague for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, remains legally convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
- His body was flown back to Serbia on a government-chartered plane and was received at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport with military honors.
- State-linked tabloids and public supporters have lauded Mladic since his return, with some outlets calling his death an assassination by the tribunal and alleging he was denied care.
- Serbian authorities have discussed holding national funeral arrangements, a move that has drawn condemnation from Bosnia and criticism from European officials.
- Analysts and opposition media say decades of political messaging, school materials and selective official gestures such as keeping his army rank have helped sustain his cult of support and that the repatriation risks deepening social divides and straining Serbia’s regional ties.