Law & Justice
Mladic to get military and state honours, minister says
Serbia's justice minister Nenad Vujic said Friday that Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military chief convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, would receive military and state honours.
“It is certain that General Mladic will receive all the military and state honours to which he is entitled, as far as the state is concerned,” Vujic told K1 broadcaster.
Mladic died Thursday while serving a life sentence in The Hague. A United Nations international tribunal said he died in hospital, and said judge Graciela Gatti Santana had ordered a full inquiry into the circumstances of his death.
Vujic said Serbian officials were waiting for details on when authorities in The Hague would release Mladic's body. “We are ready to leave for The Hague as soon as we learn what the next steps are,” he said.
Mladic was convicted in 2017 over crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, including the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. His life sentence was upheld on appeal in 2021.
Serb forces under Mladic's command executed around 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys who had sought shelter in Srebrenica, which was meant to be a UN-protected enclave. The wider Bosnian war left around 100,000 people dead and 2.2 million displaced.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stood “in solidarity with the victims, survivors and their families who suffered the crimes for which Mr Mladic was found guilty,” his spokesman said after Mladic's death.
Update
Serbia's justice minister Nenad Vujic said Mladic would receive “all the military and state honours to which he is entitled”.
Vujic said Serbian officials were waiting for details on when authorities in The Hague would release Mladic's body.
Vujic said officials were ready to leave for The Hague once they learned the next steps.
The item says Mladic had suffered several strokes in recent months.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 August 2026 at 08:12:07 UTC.
Update
Serbia's justice minister said Ratko Mladic would be buried with state honours.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 August 2026 at 07:49:30 UTC.
Update
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he stood in solidarity with the victims, survivors and families affected by the crimes for which Ratko Mladic was convicted.
A Srebrenica Memorial Centre spokeswoman said thousands from Srebrenica never had the chance to grow old and described Mladic as a convicted war criminal.
Authorities in Republika Srpska called on residents to pay respects to Mladic in churches across the entity.
Former Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik lit a candle in Banja Luka and called Mladic a great figure for the Serbian people.
Russia criticised the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, accusing it of disregard for impartiality and fair treatment for political reasons.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 19:18:13 UTC.
Update
Moscow criticised the tribunal that convicted Ratko Mladic.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 17:39:11 UTC.
Update
A representative of the Mothers of Srebrenica victims' association said Mladic's name would always symbolise genocide.
People quoted in Sarajevo and Banja Luka gave sharply contrasting reactions to Mladic's death.
The source added that Serbian state officials and Mladic's family had appealed for his release on health grounds, but the Hague tribunal rejected the calls.
The source noted a dispute over Mladic's age, with the tribunal listing his birth year as 1942 and Mladic claiming 1943.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 16:01:45 UTC.
Update
The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals confirmed Ratko Mladic died in hospital in The Hague.
Judge Graciela Gatti Santana ordered a full inquiry into the circumstances of his death.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 15:12:19 UTC.
Update
Mladic's age was reported as either 83 or 84 because most accounts say he was born in 1942, while he told the tribunal he was born in 1943.
The item adds details of his role in the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo.
It includes details of his arrest in 2011 after 16 years evading capture.
It adds reactions and characterisations from a former UN rights chief, supporters and survivors' representatives.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 13:16:53 UTC.
Update
Serbian state broadcaster RTS reported that Ratko Mladic died in a prison hospital in The Hague.
RTS reported that Mladic had suffered several strokes.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 12:42:50 UTC.
Update
Serbian state media reported that former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic had died.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 12:33:27 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The timing of the release of Mladic's body from The Hague was not yet known in the supplied material.
The scope and timing of any burial honours were described by Serbia's justice minister but not detailed further.
Source
AFP news report published on .