Mural of war criminal Ratko Mladić painted over in central Belgrade

(Patria) - A mural dedicated to convicted war criminal and former commander of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska Ratko Mladić was painted over today in central Belgrade.

Activists covered Mladić's mural with white spray paint. A day earlier, activists and citizens attempted to remove the mural with steel brushes, but the action ended with a red heart being drawn over Mladić's face. A red heart remained on the wall where the mural was located.

Both actions involved Đorđe Miketić, a member of the Serbian parliament from the Together party.

Miketić told RFE/RL that as part of the action "Let's Free Serbia from Hatred," they painted over the mural glorifying a war criminal.

- Yesterday we painted a heart over the criminal's face, and today we erased the words of gratitude. Just like this mural, which is protected by a special coating, Serbia cannot be freed from hatred and violence with a single stroke. It will be a long and difficult process - Miketić said.

He thanked the citizens who, as he said, helped in today's action.

Photo: RFE/RL

- We call on all citizens to join the action of freeing Serbia from hatred and to remove from their facades swastikas, the letter Z that glorifies the war in Ukraine, images of convicted war criminals, and calls for death of any kind - Miketić stated.

The mural dedicated to the former commander of the Army of RS, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by an international court, was painted by unknown authors in July 2021 on the facade of a residential building in central Belgrade.

That mural appeared a month after the court in The Hague confirmed Mladić's life sentence.

Citizens have thrown paint at it several times before. Belgrade's Vračar municipality, on whose territory the building with the mural of the criminal Mladić is located, announced on December 9 that, in accordance with regulations, it had removed the mural at the request of the building's residents.

However, within less than half an hour, the mural was restored to its original state. As has happened several times before, it was cleaned by a group of unknown young men.

It is suspected that the authors of the mural belong to right-wing and fan groups.

Mladić was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hague Tribunal for genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995.