Red Star fans unveil tifo of war criminal Mladic before derby

Red Star Belgrade supporters unveiled a tifo depicting convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic ahead of their derby victory over Partizan Belgrade on Sunday night. Mladic, who died in UN custody in August, was handed a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2017. He and his forces were responsible for the systematic killing of non‑Serb civilians in Bosnia‑Herzegovina during the Yugoslav wars between 1992 and 1995. He oversaw the massacre of 8,000 men and boys at Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo, in which more than 10,000 people died. Red Star have already been fined 90,000 euros (£77,000) this season by UEFA after fans displayed a banner honouring Mladic in a Europa League play‑off against Czech side FC Viktoria Plzen last month. The club’s social media channels posted video of the tifo and showed both teams observing a minute’s silence for Mladic, accompanied by a saluting emoji. The official Twitter account of Bosnia‑Herzegovina’s national team replied with an obscenity. After initially enjoying the protection of Serb president Slobodan Milosevic—who would later die while on trial for genocide himself—Mladic spent more than a decade on the run before being discovered hiding in a remote farmhouse. Nevertheless, he remains a celebrated figure for some in Serbia, with thousands gathering at a church in Belgrade for his memorial on Monday.