Serbian police keep activists from mural of wartime general

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Police officers in Serbia’s capital have been deployed to a large mural of convicted Bosnian Serb wartime commander Ratko Mladic that activists wanted to paint over. Police in Belgrade had banned the activists from gathering by the mural to mark the International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism. Authorities cited the need to prevent possible clashes between the activists and right-wing nationalists who consider the Serb general a hero. An international war crimes court sentenced Mladic to life in prison for genocide in the deaths of some 8,000 Bosniaks in 1995. Belgrade police said in a statement that officers who responded Tuesday were not protecting the mural but enforcing the ban on gatherings.