Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused the United Nations war crimes tribunal of 'uncivilized' conduct after it denied the late Ratko Mladic's request to return to Serbia to die, where he wished to be buried.
Vucic, a former ultranationalist who later positioned himself as a pro-European reformer, stated that the tribunal's refusal to transfer Mladic to Serbia demonstrated 'unprecedented, unjustified and uncivilized behavior.' The 83-year-old former Bosnian Serb army commander died in a UN detention facility in The Hague on Thursday while serving a life sentence for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.
The tribunal had denied Mladic's transfer request the previous month, citing his precarious but stable health condition in detention. Serbian authorities had planned to accommodate his burial wishes in a Belgrade cemetery next to his daughter Ana, who died in 1994.
Mladic's death follows his conviction for orchestrating the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where approximately 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed, and for the 43-month siege of Sarajevo that resulted in roughly 10,000 deaths. Survivors of the conflict expressed outrage over the circumstances of his passing. Meira Djogaz, who lost her husband, three sons and a grandson in the war and returned to live in Srebrenica, stated that Mladic 'should never have left prison' and wished he had suffered longer behind bars.
The tribunal has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mladic's death, with a designated judge spending approximately three hours inspecting the detention facility on Friday. No statements were issued to the press following the inspection.
