Thousands gather in Belgrade for funeral of convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic

 Thousands of people gathered in front of a church in Belgrade to pay respects to former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic who died last week while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.  

Mladic remains a revered figure among many Serbs in Serbia and in Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic, despite his convictions linked to his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and in the siege of Sarajevo. 

People carrying Serbian flags and pictures of Mladic wearing a traditional Serbian military cap arrived in front of the church to light candles early on Monday, hours before his scheduled burial.

Free bus services were offered from Bosnia and most towns in Serbia for anyone who wanted to pay their respects.   

Mladic's coffin was displayed inside the church and six men, mainly war veterans from Serbia and Bosnia, took turns guarding it. Mladic's wife, son, and grandchildren stood inside receiving condolences. 

"Time will tell, time is the best judge who will show what kind of person is who and to whom," said Belgrade resident Jovan Vincic, who had come to the church. 

CONFLICTS TRIGGERED BY BREAK-UP OF YUGOSLAVIA   

Mladic's death has stirred up strong feelings linking back to the break-up of Yugoslavia and the ethnic conflicts that ensued in the Balkans. 

Mladic was found guilty by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of genocide for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which about 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys were killed after Bosnian Serb forces overran the U.N.-designated enclave.

He was also convicted over the 43-month siege of Sarajevo, during which about 10,000 people were killed.

Last week, EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos postponed her visit to Serbia because of what she said was the "glorification" of Mladic after his death, including the use of a government plane to return him to Serbia.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic dismissed those statements, but did not say whether he would attend Monday's funeral. 

The service was scheduled to be conducted by the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox church at noon, after which Mladic will be buried in a nearby cemetery beside his daughter, who died in 1994. 

In Sarajevo, meanwhile, the funeral rekindled painful memories of the war.

"It is really horrible that this is taking place there (in Belgrade) because I know there are normal people who are against it," said Zdravka Gvozdjar, a retired pharmacist whose 9-year-old son was killed during the Sarajevo siege by a grenade fired by the Mladic-led forces, one among more than 1,000 children killed in the city.

"Mladic ... only deserved to be erased from memory for good, not to be ... promoted as a hero," she said. "He should be remembered only as a butcher."