Strategies of Relativisation of Evil: The War Criminal as a "General" - The Glorification of Ratko Mladić as a Test of the Rule of Law and Democratic Values in Montenegro
Strategies of Relativisation of Evil: The War Criminal as a "General" - The Glorification of Ratko Mladić as a Test of the Rule of Law and Democratic Values in Montenegro

Author(s): Sara Čabarkapa, Daliborka Uljarević
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Criminal Law, Criminology, Wars in Jugoslavia
Published by: Centar za građansko obrazovanje (CGO)
Keywords: war criminal glorification; Ratko Mladić; rule of law; war crimes denial; democratic values; political accountability; Montenegro EU accession
Summary/Abstract: Ratko Mladić died on 27 August 2026 in The Hague, where he was serving a life sentence. The news was reported by Montenegrin, regional and international media, while The Guardian and The New York Times repeated in their headlines the nickname by which he was known around the world - the “Butcher of Bosnia”. His death triggered a new wave of public glorification across the region. In Montenegro, through statements by public officials, social media posts, obituaries, banners, graffiti and attendance at his funeral, a war criminal convicted by a final judgment was portrayed as a general, hero, martyr and protector of the people. This attempt to rewrite history and associate a criminal with an entire nation did not emerge out of nowhere. In Serbia, it was encouraged at the state level, while Mladić was buried with state involvement and honours. In Montenegro,this was echoed by those who have long aligned themselves with the policies of official Belgrade. For Montenegro, the key question is not only who glorified Mladić and how, but how the state responded. The Centre for Civic Education (CCE) therefore documented a significant number of cases of glorification and analysed the responses of the police, prosecution service, Government, Parliament and other institutions against the domestic legal framework, previous practice and Montenegro’s obligations in the European Union accession process. The findings point to selective institutional responses.

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