‘Ratko Mladic Boulevard’ Signs Appear in Serbia

A large inscription reading “Ratko Mladic Boulevard” has appeared in Novi Sad, the capital of Serbia’s Vojvodina region, designed to resemble an official street sign. Similar stickers have been put up in recent days at several locations in the city’s Liman neighborhood.

A similar campaign took place in Belgrade in 2007, when members of the Serbian Radical Party joined activists in putting up posters bearing Mladic’s name. Among them was current President Aleksandar Vucic, then secretary general of the party.

Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army who was convicted of genocide in Srebrenica and other war crimes, died on 27 August at the age of 84 while serving a life sentence in The Hague. Despite his conviction, he continues to be regarded as a hero by many Serbs.

Vucic announced on Thursday that Mladic’s body had been released by the UN court in The Hague and would be flown to Serbia. He said Mladic’s family would announce the funeral arrangements and estimated that tens of thousands of people could attend.

(hina, tasr, sab)