Belgrade: Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday offered to organize the burial in Serbia of convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic, widely known as the 'Butcher of Bosnia,' who died Thursday in The Hague, according to broadcaster RTS. Vucic told reporters that if Mladic's family wished for him to be buried in Serbia, the state would organize the arrangements. He, however, added that nothing had yet been confirmed, while noting that teams had been sent to assist with logistical matters.

According to Anadolu Agency, Vucic stated, "I can't say anything more for now because we haven't received anything from The Hague." He then claimed that The Hague wanted Mladic's death behind bars. "We have now seen that The Hague wanted Mladic's death behind bars, they did not want to let the general die in Serbia, to die where he wanted, that is anti-civilizational behavior, behavior without precedent and without justification," Vucic claimed.

Mladic died on Thursday at the age of 85 while serving a life sentence in The Hague. In June 2021, the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals upheld Mladic's life sentence for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. He was convicted on 10 of 11 counts, including genocide in Srebrenica, persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, forcible transfer, terrorizing civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, and taking UN personnel hostage.

More than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in Srebrenica in July 1995 in a massacre recognized as genocide by international courts. Mladic evaded justice for nearly 16 years after the war. He was arrested in May 2011 in the Serbian village of Lazarevo, near the northern city of Zrenjanin, and subsequently transferred to The Hague. His arrest had long been one of the main conditions for Serbia's progress toward membership in the European Union.