Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujić announced on Friday that Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, convicted of genocide, will be buried with “the highest military and national honors,” according to the country’s state television.
Mladic, 84, died Thursday at a United Nations detention center in The Hague after serving 15 years of a life sentence.
It is unclear whether plans include a full state funeral for the convicted war criminal. The Serbian government did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. Vujić said the Mladic family will decide where he will be buried.
“If the family wishes to be buried in Serbia, we will arrange everything in a decent and dignified manner,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić told the media.
Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” Mladic personally orchestrated some of the worst war crimes of the Balkan wars, including the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre.
More than 10,000 people, including many children, died during the two-year siege of Sarajevo, and in Srebrenica in July 1995, more than 7,000 Muslims, mostly men and boys, were massacred within days.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found him guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, persecution, extermination, murder, terrorism, unlawful attacks on civilians, and hostage-taking.
Srebrenica survivor and director of the Srebrenica Memorial Center, Emir Surjagić, said in a statement Thursday that Mladic’s death “doesn’t change much.”
“It’s not going to bring the dead back to life. It’s not going to remove mass graves. It’s not going to change decisions,” he said. “The most difficult part of the job remains: not letting truth, responsibility, and memory die with him.”
However, despite being widely recognized as a war criminal, Mladic remains a popular figure among some Serbs. Plans to honor Mr Mladic prompted a wave of criticism from the country’s pro-European opposition parties, but were welcomed by many nationalists.
Some pro-government media in Serbia also called Mladic a hero and questioned his treatment in The Hague.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement expressing Moscow’s condolences to Mladic’s family and friends. Despite Belgrade’s stated ambitions to join the European Union, Serbia is one of Russia’s closest allies in Europe.
In a statement, the ministry also criticized the ICTY, saying: “The Russian side has consistently pointed out that the trial and detention conditions of Mr. R. Mladić in The Hague involve a disregard for his fundamental rights.”
Mladic was also widely mourned in Republika Srpska, a Serb-controlled region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The group’s Prime Minister Savo Minnic hailed Mladic as a national hero, and memorial events were held in several locations across the region.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is part Bosniak and part Croat, criticized what they called an attempt to “publicly glorify a convicted war criminal.”
As Mladic’s health deteriorated in recent months, Serbia’s right-wing government repeatedly campaigned for him to be released to a hospital in Belgrade. The latest of these appeals was filed by Vujić on Monday.
Vujić said on Friday he would send a letter to The Hague calling for an investigation into Mladic’s death and treatment. The Residency Mechanism for the International Criminal Court, which functions as the now-disbanded ICTY, announced it would launch a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mladic’s death, as is often the case when high-profile prisoners die.
