Vucic: Teports that Mladic would be buried with highest state honors were lies

Speaking to reporters in the town of Osecina, Vucic asserted that the UN war crimes court in The Hague deliberately wanted Mladic to die behind bars rather than permitting him to pass away in Serbia as he wished.

"We see now that The Hague wanted Mladic to die behind bars. They did not want to let the general die in Serbia, die where he wanted to. That is anti-civilizational behaviour, behavior without precedent and without justification," Vucic said.

He noted that official Belgrade had not received formal notification regarding Mladic's death from The Hague. Mladic passed away in the detention unit hospital in Scheveningen, where he had spent the past four years, after the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals repeatedly rejected requests for his temporary transfer to Serbia for medical treatment.

Addressing previous statements from the Justice Ministry which had suggested a state-honours burial despite his conviction for the Srebrenica genocide, Vucic clarified that the organization of the funeral rests entirely upon the wishes of the Mladic family.

"If Ratko Mladic's family wants him buried in Serbia, the state will organize that in a dignified manner," Vucic said, adding that official teams would be dispatched to The Hague to assist with logistical arrangements.