VUJIĆ: FAMILY HAS RIGHT TO DIGNIFIED FUNERAL, CITIZENS HAVE RIGHT TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 4 /SRNA/ - The family has the right to bury General Ratko Mladić in a dignified manner, and citizens have the right to pay their respects, Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujić said.

"When someone dies, all discussion about where and under what conditions they will be buried comes to an end. It is exclusively for the family to decide," Vujić stressed at a press conference in Belgrade.

Vujić said this was in accordance with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and that Serbia would ensure that General Mladić's funeral on Monday, September 7, proceeds peacefully and with dignity.

"Let us not distort the issue. When someone dies, the punishment also comes to an end. These are European values, and we adhere to them," Vujić said.

He stressed that, at this point, they were not discussing the verdict itself, but exclusively the treatment of the deceased and respect for his dignity.

"Punishment ends with death, and everything after that is revenge," Vujić said, reminding that the Serbian state had been actively involved in all developments related to the efforts by General Ratko Mladić's family and defense team to secure his early release on humanitarian grounds, but that the Mechanism had repeatedly ignored those requests, thereby calling into question all UN rules and the principles of international humanitarian law.

Vujić clarified that, with regard to the state honors with which General Mladić will be buried, the wishes of the Mladić family will be respected exclusively, and that the state will do absolutely everything to assist them.

He said that Serbia is fulfilling its international obligations and respecting the judgments of international courts in accordance with the Law on Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, or the Mechanism, while other matters are regulated by Serbia's domestic laws.

"The views of organizations /opposed to a state funeral/ are just views, and we can debate them. We can leave the legal issues for a time when it is appropriate to debate them, but we cannot debate the humanitarian aspect of the funeral, the wishes of the family, the dignity and the peace in which all of this should take place," Vujić reiterated.