Red Star Belgrade Fans Unveil Tifo of Convicted War Criminal Ratko Mladic Ahead of His Funeral

Red Star Belgrade fans honor Ratko Mladic with tifo ahead of funeral

Red Star Belgrade fans displayed a tifo depicting Ratko Mladic before their derby win over rivals Partizan, a day before the convicted war criminal's funeral took place in the city.

Mladic was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 after being found guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He died in prison last month at the age of 84. Known as the "Butcher of Bosnia," Mladic commanded Bosnian Serb forces responsible for the massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995, as well as the prolonged siege of Sarajevo and the establishment of camps used to detain non-Serb civilians and enemy soldiers.

The club's social media accounts posted footage of the tifo, along with video of both teams observing a minute's silence in Mladic's honor before kickoff.

The display comes just weeks after Red Star were fined £77,000 for a similar incident, when fans unveiled a banner commemorating Mladic during a Europa League match against Viktoria Plzen. As part of that punishment, the club was also barred from selling tickets to fans for its next away fixture in a UEFA competition, a sanction that will apply when Red Star travel to face Swiss side Lugano in the Conference League.

Mladic's body lay in state on Monday, with Serbia proceeding with public funeral events despite warnings from the European Union against allowing public tributes to a man convicted of Europe's first genocide case since World War II. Thousands of mourners gathered early outside the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Luke in Belgrade to pay their respects, with many in the country continuing to view Mladic as a hero. His military cap and saber were placed on top of the coffin, which was flanked by men in military fatigues.

Serbia ignored EU warnings against publicly honoring the man convicted of genocide, as thousands of mourners gathered in the city for his funeral.

The funeral service was led by Patriarch Porfirije, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and pro-government media outlets in Serbia reported that Mladic would receive full military honors at his burial.

Mladic evaded capture for more than a decade before being arrested in 2011. He was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 2017 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died last month after suffering several strokes while in custody.