Nebojša Pavković entered history as the first convicted war criminal to be buried in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens at the New Cemetery in Belgrade. He was laid to rest with the highest military honours, in the presence of senior state officials and leaders of the Serbian Orthodox Church. This act established a dangerous precedent, as Pavković joined a group of approximately 800 individuals regarded as having made exceptional contributions to Serbian and Yugoslav history, including Ivo Andrić, Vasko Popa, Pavle Vuisić, and actress Milena Dravić.
In doing so, a convicted war criminal was symbolically rehabilitated and relocated from the realm of criminal responsibility into a narrative of national achievement and merit. As a reminder, Pavković, a former Yugoslav Army general, was sentenced in 2009 to 22 years’ imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for his participation in a joint criminal enterprise during the Kosovo War, the purpose of which was the persecution and forcible displacement of Kosovo Albanians. He was also convicted of murder. This is the man who has now found himself among the most respected and distinguished figures of the state.
The choice of burial site is not merely a matter of commemoration or symbolism. It is an act that shapes collective memory, affirms societal values, and conveys a message about who is considered worthy of public respect and national remembrance. “Generations of soldiers and officers will remember him for his work, discipline, and conviction that the uniform must be worn with honour and that one’s word should be kept as a sacred pledge,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić wrote following Pavković’s death.
It is precisely because of the status of distinguished citizen conferred upon Pavković after his death, and the fact that he was buried with the highest military honours among the most celebrated figures of the nation, that the latest report by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights is entitled State of Denial – Serbia 2025: War Criminals as Distinguished Citizens.
Until the final day of his life, Pavković remained steadfast in denying the crimes for which he had been convicted, rejecting the findings of the court and refusing to accept responsibility for the actions that led to his punishment. Instead, he described them as a “successful defence against NATO aggression.” It was precisely this attitude that enabled him to be recognised as a distinguished citizen. In a culture of denial, public recognition is not bestowed upon those who acknowledge responsibility for crimes, but rather upon those who deny them or seek to justify their actions. Conversely, individuals who express remorse or accept judicially established facts are often labelled as “traitors.”
Denial as competition
As in the previous three reports, the latest report highlights that numerous public actors and institutions in Serbia appear to compete in denial. Leading this trend are state officials, but representatives of certain media outlets and religious institutions also play a prominent role. The President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and government ministers, members of parliament, state secretaries, and various state institutions have been among the most active in denying and relativising war crimes, glorifying convicted war criminals, and promoting narratives that portray the Serbian people as the greatest – or even the sole – victims of the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Particular concern and attention are devoted to convicted war criminals, who are frequently presented as Serbian “heroes.”
Justice Minister Nenad Vujić noted that Serbian citizens are still serving prison sentences abroad and stated that Serbia must demonstrate that it stands behind those individuals. According to the report’s authors, the carriers of denialist narratives also included numerous non-state actors, such as the Serbian Literary Cooperative, the Serbian Orthodox Church, non-governmental organisations closely aligned with the authorities, representatives of the academic community, and even certain opposition political parties.
These practices of denial range from public statements and media appearances alongside convicted war criminals to providing public platforms for the promotion of war criminals and their alleged “heroic deeds.” Certain government ministries have been particularly active in denying or minimising war crimes. Notably, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs have distinguished themselves through official statements, commemorations, and similar events. Convicted war criminals occupy a particularly important place within these practices. As direct participants in armed conflicts, they are frequently presented as possessing valuable expertise on warfare and national defence in a country portrayed as being under constant threat from external enemies. The fact that these individuals have been convicted of some of the gravest crimes under international law, including genocide, appears not to diminish perceptions of their expertise, education, or professional knowledge acquired outside the context of their crimes. On the contrary, it often seems to enhance their status and public appeal.
Their television appearances, in which they are presented as analysts and experts, are frequently used to deny the crimes for which they were convicted, as well as other crimes committed by various Serbian military formations. They also serve as platforms for attacking critics of the ruling regime. In this way, war crimes are reinterpreted as crimes committed out of patriotic passion, while war criminals are portrayed as patriots deserving of public recognition and social respect.
Various media outlets, including tabloids and television stations with national coverage, have likewise consistently provided space for actors who not only deny specific war crimes and glorify convicted war criminals but also use these issues to discredit the student movement and opposition political parties. In February 2025, Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković argued that the purpose of the blockades and protests was to force Serbia to acknowledge that genocide had been committed in Srebrenica and that Serbs are a “genocidal people.” Dragutin Matanović, a member of the Board of Directors of NIS, interpreted the protests in a similar manner, claiming that the opposition and students occupy anti-Serbian positions and seek to compel Serbs to accept that they are genocidal.
The notion of a “genocidal people” has no basis either in international law or in serious scholarly literature on genocide. This, however, appears to have little effect on the rhetoric of Serbia’s political leadership. Genocide is a crime committed by individuals, groups, or institutions, and responsibility for it may be criminal (individual), political, or moral. It follows that criminal responsibility for the Srebrenica genocide belongs to those individuals who planned, ordered, facilitated, or carried out the crime, while moral responsibility may be attributed to those individuals or institutions that deny, relativise, or justify it. If public discourse is any indication, this latter category has proven remarkably resilient and numerous, as though it were a social project that, even three decades after the genocide, continues to attract new adherents.
The economy of denial
Denial is not merely tolerated, encouraged, or rewarded; it is often financed through public funds. The term economy of denial refers to a system in which the denial of atrocities is institutionally and financially supported, transforming it from an individual attitude into a publicly funded social practice. When a state finances projects, organisations, media content, or public events that deny or relativise war crimes, it does not act merely as a passive observer. Rather, it becomes an active participant in the production and maintenance of a culture of denial.
Such an economy of denial enables revisionist narratives to survive and proliferate despite judicially established facts. While the Serbian state does not directly pay salaries or fees to convicted war criminals for writing books, it indirectly finances, publishes, and promotes their works through institutions such as the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia and state-affiliated publishing houses. In doing so, public resources are used not only to preserve particular interpretations of the past, but also to legitimise individuals convicted of some of the gravest crimes under international law. The significance of such support extends beyond the publication of books or the organisation of public events. It signals which interpretations of the past are considered acceptable, which voices are granted legitimacy, and whose narratives are elevated within the public sphere. As a result, denial becomes embedded not only in political discourse but also in the institutional and economic structures that sustain collective memory.
The report cites the example of Vojislav Šešelj who, as in previous years, participated in the Belgrade Book Fair. Last year, Duško Tadić joined him there with his latest book, Obmana veka (The Deception of the Century), a work that the author himself describes as being of “historical significance” because, in his words, it sheds “light on the darkest chapters in the history of the international community.” Tadić spent six years writing the book, relying, as he claims, on evidence he personally collected that “clearly demonstrates” that the murders for which he was convicted never occurred. It is worth reminding the public that long before he became a “controversial author” and self-appointed revisionist of his own past, Tadić entered history as the first person convicted by the ICTY. During his trial, the prosecution presented testimony from 86 witnesses and introduced 362 exhibits into evidence. In 1996, Tadić was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for persecution, murder, beatings and other forms of violence, the forced transfer of civilians, and participation in the attack on Kozarac near Prijedor during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ICTY classified these acts as crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.
Thirty years later, while promoting his latest book at the Belgrade Book Fair, Tadić uses what he describes as a “healthy reconstruction of the evidence” to challenge judicially established facts and persuade readers that he bears no responsibility for the crimes for which he was lawfully convicted. Human rights activist and researcher Kemija Hodžić strongly refuted the claims made in The Deception of the Century, emphasizing that the real “deception” lies in the attempt of a convicted perpetrator to recast himself as a victim.
While some convicted war criminals seek to immortalise their versions of the past through memoirs and books, others, such as Novak Stjepanović, evade serving their prison sentences by leaving the country. Stjepanović was convicted in Serbia of war crimes in June 2025, but instead of serving his sentence, he fled to the battlefield in Ukraine. Specifically, he was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment for the murder of civilians in Bratunac, Bosnia, in 1992. He was also convicted of raping a 19-year-old woman who had been unlawfully detained together with her family. Stjepanović’s case illustrates a different form of evasion of accountability. Rather than challenging judicially established facts through public statements or publications, he sought to avoid the consequences of his conviction altogether by escaping the jurisdiction in which he had been sentenced.
The whereabouts of Rajko Kozlina remain unknown. Like Novak Stjepanović, he failed to report to serve his prison sentence, which amounts to 20 years’ imprisonment. Kozlina, a former member of the Rear Battalion of the 549th Motorised Brigade of the Yugoslav Army, was found guilty by the Higher Court in Belgrade in 2019 for crimes committed in the village of Trnje, Kosovo, in March 1999. Despite the conviction, Kozlina never appeared to begin serving his sentence, prompting the court to issue a warrant for his arrest. In 2020, Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to disclose whether Kozlina had used an official border crossing to leave the country. Meanwhile, the Second Basic Court in Belgrade, the institution responsible for enforcing the sentence, did not respond to questions regarding whether and how it had acted in the case. Like his fellow convicted war criminal, Novak Stjepanović, Kozlina remains a fugitive. Throughout 2025, there was still no publicly available information regarding his whereabouts.
Metastasis of denial
The latest report by the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, entitled State of Denial – Serbia 2025: War Criminals as Distinguished Citizens, serves as a powerful document of the times in which Serbia lives – a time in which denial, historical revisionism, and the glorification of war criminals have become integral components of public discourse, penetrating almost every sphere of social and political life. Acts of denial contribute to the reshaping of collective memory, whereby individuals convicted of the gravest crimes are presented as figures worthy of respect, public recognition, and social prestige, despite their judicially established responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law. Despite the vast archival record amassed by both international and domestic courts, as well as the large number of final convictions, the report documents how established facts and evidence are relativised, politically justified, or transformed into narratives of heroism and sacrifice.
The authors demonstrate that denial has long ceased to be merely an individual attitude. Rather, it has evolved into a social and political practice that shapes public discourse and collective memory. The persistence of this culture of denial resembles a terminal illness that metastasises and destroys everything in its path. Yet, like any such illness, it is not eternal. However deeply entrenched it may appear, the day will inevitably come when it ends.
Peščanik.net, 24.06.2026.