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Rival Belgrade Clubs Jointly Commemorate War Criminal

Before the 180th Belgrade Derby, a minute of silence is held for convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic.

Rival Belgrade Clubs Jointly Commemorate War Criminal Photo: © IMAGO / Aleksandar Djorovic
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In international football, there are few greater rivalries than that between Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade.

That did not stop the two clubs on Sunday from holding a minute of silence for convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic before the 180th Belgrade Derby.

Furthermore, Red Star ultras, the "Delije", unveiled a huge tifo featuring Mladic's portrait. This action was widely celebrated on the social media channels of the Serbian champions.

Mladic revered as national hero in Serbia

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Mladic wurde auch auf den Rängen mit einer riesigen Choreo gedacht
Foto: ©IMAGO / Aleksandar Djorovic

Mladic was accused of numerous crimes against humanity during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). These included the Srebrenica massacre, which cost the lives of over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims within a few days.

In 2017, after years of negotiations, Mladic was found guilty on ten of eleven counts by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague (Netherlands) and sentenced to life imprisonment. Last week, Mladic died at the age of 84 in prison.

His body has since been transferred to Belgrade, where it will lie in state for three and a half hours on Monday at St. Luke's Church in the Serbian capital. Afterwards, according to Serbia's Justice Minister Nenad Vujic, Mladic will be buried "with full state honors".

Arnautovic makes first appearance in a long time

Football was also played, by the way. Red Star won 2-1 and took the league lead with six wins from six matches.

Muhammed Cham was on the field for Red Star until the 83rd minute. Marko Arnautovic was substituted in after 68 minutes, having not played in three previous league matches.

Erik Kojzek remained on the bench for Partizan for 90 minutes.

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