Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic's body was to arrive in Serbia on Thursday, President Aleksandar Vucic said, after relatives collected it from The Hague.
Mladic died last week while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
The court ordered a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mladic's death, which had to be completed before his family could take possession of the body.
"According to the information I have received, the body has been collected and should arrive in Serbia in the late afternoon," Vucic told media.
Neither Mladic's son Darko nor the court in The Hague confirmed the handover of the body.
Vucic said the state would provide "every kind of logistical and transport support", while the family would decide the details of the funeral.
Mladic, who had suffered several strokes in recent months, was convicted over atrocities committed during Bosnia's war, which left around 100,000 people dead and 2.2 million displaced.
His role in the killings earned him the nickname the "Butcher of Bosnia", particularly for his role in the Srebrenica massacre, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II.
Mladic was the military face of a brutal leadership alongside former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and ex-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.
Vucic said he expected "tens of thousands of people" to attend Mladic's funeral.
Serbia's Justice Minister Nenad Vujic said last week that Mladic "will receive all the military and state honours to which he is entitled", but Vucic said only that the funeral would be "dignified and in accordance with the family's wishes".
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos on Monday criticised plans to bury Mladic with state honours.
"Regarding Ratko Mladic, the glorification of war criminals is contrary to fundamental European values and has no place in the European Union or in countries that aspire to become members," Kos said in Slovenia.
