When citizens from the same cultural and educational background disagree on whether to denounce or honour convicted war criminals, I ponder the origins of their perspectives.

 

Since the summer of 2021, citizens in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade have fought over the use of the image of the former Bosnian Serb military general, Ratko Mladić, convicted of genocide and other war crimes committed during Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 1992-95 conflict.

 

The standoff began when a group of unidentified persons drew Mladić’s image on the wall of a residential building, seemingly lionizing the convict. Many Belgrade citizens threw paint and eggs at it. The city’s communal services also painted over it. In response to all these efforts, the unknown persons reappeared each time, wiped off the 'damage', and restored their original drawing.

 

After the Belgrade-based Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) announced a public protest against this depiction of Mladić, in November 2021, the Serbian government issued a ban on gatherings in the vicinity of the image, citing a risk of clashes.  Citizens who threw eggs at the image were arrested by the police.

 

This 5-minute long audio thought-piece was published on 21st November 2024, produced (by me, Mirna Jančić Doyle) from a 45-minute recorded interview with the director of YIHR, Sofija Todorović. In my interpretation of our conversation, Todorović explores the origins of why, despite their common education and background, she thinks differently about convicted war criminals from many of her fellow citizens. The recording is in the Serbian language.

 

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