Ratko Mladic body returns to Serbia with military honours

Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic's body arrived in Serbia on Thursday and was received with military honours after being returned from The Hague.

The casket, draped in the Serbian flag, was carried from the plane by six soldiers. Mladic's son Darko and Serbia's Justice Minister Nenad Vujic accompanied the body, which was then driven from the airport under police escort, reportedly to a Belgrade military hospital.

Mladic died last week while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war. A court had ordered a full inquiry into the circumstances of his death before his family could take possession of the body.

The military hospital said it would carry out a post-mortem examination at the request of Mladic's family and the justice minister. Dr Ivan Lekovic, the hospital's deputy head, said the findings, including post-mortem results and other analyses, would be provided to the family and relevant institutions as soon as possible.

Pro-government media broadcast images of dozens of people, mostly young men, gathered on footbridges over the motorway, displaying banners honouring Mladic and lighting flares as the convoy passed. The same outlets reported funeral details, including a public service at a church scheduled for Monday, but no details have been officially confirmed.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said earlier Thursday that the state would provide "every kind of logistical and transport support" and that he expected tens of thousands of people to gather for the funeral. Justice Minister Nenad Vujic said last week that Mladic would receive the military and state honours to which he was entitled. Vucic said only that the funeral would be dignified and in accordance with the family's wishes.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos criticised plans to bury Mladic with state honours, saying the glorification of war criminals was contrary to fundamental European values and had no place in the European Union or in countries seeking to join it.

Mladic had suffered several strokes in recent months. He was convicted over atrocities committed during Bosnia's war, which killed around 100,000 people and forced 2.2 million from their homes, including his role in the Srebrenica massacre.