Il Nuovo Postiglione - Commemoration held for late Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladic

Mladic died last week after suffering several strokes while serving a life sentence in The Hague for war crimes committed during the 1990s war in Bosnia.

His body was returned to Serbia on a government plane on Thursday, with his casket draped in flags and received with military honours.

The 84-year-old will be buried at a Belgrade cemetery on Monday, in a ceremony expected to draw thousands of mourners despite international condemnation.

On Saturday, around 300 people gathered at the commemoration ceremony for Mladic at a military facility in Belgrade, organised by an association of retired and active Serbian army generals, according to an AFP reporter.

His son Darko and other family members also attended, as well as Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic, and officials from the Bosnian Serb statelet, Republika Srpska, including President Sinisa Karan.

Dozens of other Mladic supporters crowded in front of the Serbian army house, in central Belgrade, but had to stay outside because the venue was full.

Some carried flags or wore T-shirts featuring Mladic in uniform with the caption, "Serbian Hero".

During the ceremony, speakers praised Mladic's role during the 1990s wars in Bosnia and Croatia, describing him as a "towering figure both as a man and a soldier".

Mladic's wartime atrocities during the collapse of the former Yugoslavia earned him the nickname "Butcher of Bosnia" in international media.

The Hague-based United Nations court convicted him of genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, where around 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in a UN-protected safe zone.

Despite the verdicts, he is still hailed as a hero by some Serbs, particularly in Republika Srpska, where his death was marked with vigils and gatherings.

G.Palmiero--INP