THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PAY TRIBUTE TO GENERAL MLADIĆ AT ST. LUKE CHURCH

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 7 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska Army General Ratko Mladić will be buried today at Topčider Cemetery in Belgrade.

The coffin with General Mladić’s remains has been displayed at St. Luke’s Church in the Vidikovac neighbourhood of Belgrade, where friends and admirers are paying their respects. General Mladić’s military cap has been placed on the coffin, along with all of his decorations. Thousands of people are waiting outside the church to pay tribute to the former commander of the Republika Srpska Army’s Main Staff. The procession is scheduled to continue until noon, when a funeral service will be held for General Mladić. According to the funeral protocol, arrival at Topčider Cemetery, where General Mladić will be given full military honours, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. According to announcements by Republika Srpska-based organisations stemming from the Defensive-Patriotic War, the organised arrival of several thousand of Mladić’s former comrades-in-arms is expected, along with a large number of Republika Srpska and Serbia citizens. Darko Mladić, the late general’s son, said earlier that he believed the funeral would proceed peacefully, with dignity. The Mladić family had previously appealed to everyone intending to buy flowers and wreaths for the general’s funeral not to do so, but instead to donate that money to children suffering from illnesses. General Mladić died on August 27 at the detention hospital in The Hague.