Slobodan Praljak (pronounced [sloˌbǒdan ˈprǎːʎak]; 2 January 1945 – 29 November 2017) was a Bosnian Croat engineer, filmand theatre director, businessman, and author who served as general in theCroatian Army and the Croatian Defence Council, an army of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, and was found guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
In 2004 he voluntarily surrendered to the ICTY, and from 2013 was among six Bosnian Croat officials convicted for war crimes against the Bosnian Muslimpopulation during the Croat–Bosniak War.[1][2] He was sentenced to 20 years in jail.[3] An appeal was heard in early 2017; upon hearing the guilty verdict upheld in November 2017, Praljak committed suicide by drinking poison in the courtroom;[4] he died a few hours later.[5][6][7][8]
Background
Slobodan Praljak was born on 2 January 1945 in Čapljina. His father Mirko worked for Yugoslav security agency OZNA.[9] Praljak had three university degrees. In 1970, he graduated as anelectrical engineer at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Zagreb with a GPA of 4.5/5. He wrote his thesis on the correction of the chromatic image in the main of an electrical signal for television work. In 1971, he graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, majoring in philosophy and sociology. In 1972, he graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art. At first, he worked as manager of the electronics laboratory at the Nikola Tesla Vocational High School, and since 1972 as a freelance artist. Praljak was also a theater director in theaters in Zagreb, Osijek and Mostar. He directed the television seriesBlesan i Tulipan [Blesan and Tulipan], television dramas Novela od Stanca and Sargaško more[Sargasso Sea], documentaries Smrt psa (1980) [Death of a Dog], Sandžak and Duhan[Tobacco] (both in 1990), and film Povratak Katarine Kožul (1989) [Return of Katarina Kožul].[9][10][11]
During the war
He drew public attention in 1991 when he voluntarily joined the newly formed Croatian Armed Forces after the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence. He formed a unit composed of the Zagreb artists and intellectuals with whom he held positions in Sunja.[10] After the Sarajevo Agreement, he was made Major General, received a number of responsibilities in the Ministry of Defense, and became one of the 14 members of the Croatian National Defense Council and a member of the Croatian State Commission for Relations with United Nations Protection Force(UNPROFOR). He was the High Representative of the Ministry of Defense, and since May 13, 1993, representative of the Ministry of Defense in the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia andCroatian Defence Council (HVO).[10]
From 24 July to 8 September 1993, Praljak was the Chief of Staff of the Croatian Defense Council. He allowed the UNHCR's humanitarian convoy through to Mostar, which was stopped in Čitluk.[9][12] He was accused of ordering the destruction of Mostar's Stari Most in November 1993, an act which judges ruled had "caused disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population".[13] The ICTY agreed it was a legitimate military target.[7] During the trial, Praljak denied the accusation because in the same month when the destruction occurred, he came into conflict with the commander of the HVO's so-called Punishment Battalion Mladen Naletilić Tutawhich resulted in his resignation from the positions of HVO's Chief of Staff, one day before the destruction of the bridge. He claimed that the bridge was demolished by activation of the explosive charge set on the left bank of the Neretva, where the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovinawas located.[10][14] In addition to the responsibility and whether it was a legitimate military target, the trial also examined whether the earlier siege by JNA and Bosnian Serb forces contributed to its collapse.[15] His actions and thinking during the war, from treatment of prisoners to condemnation of Ustaše insignia, was praised by fellow veterans.[10]
Post war
After the war, Praljak became a businessman. He founded the company Oktavijan. Since 2005, the company is managed by his stepson Nikola Babić Praljak. It has around 20 million kunas of revenue per year. Praljak was also a co-owner of Liberan, a company that has a share inLjubuški Tobacco Factory.[11]
ICTY indictment
Praljak was among six accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia(ICTY), in relation to the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia.[1] On 5 April 2004 he surrendered and was transferred to the ICTY. In his indictment it was alleged that Praljak as a senior military official commanded, directly and indirectly, the Herceg-Bosna/HVO armed forces which committed mass war crimes against Bosnian Muslim population in around 30 municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In his role as a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Defense, he was closely involved in all aspects of not only the Herceg-Bosna/HVO military planning and operations but the actions of the Herceg-Bosna/HVO civilian police too.[1]
Taken from the UN press release (2004):
- nine counts of grave breaches of the Geneva conventions (wilful killing; inhuman treatment (sexual assault); unlawful deportation of a civilian; unlawful transfer of a civilian; unlawful confinement of a civilian; inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement); inhuman treatment; extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly).
- nine counts of violations of the laws or customs of war (cruel treatment (conditions of confinement); cruel treatment; unlawful labour; wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or destruction not justified by military necessity; destruction or wilful damage done to institutions dedicated to religion or education; plunder of public or private property; unlawful attack on civilians; unlawful infliction of terror on civilians; cruel treatment), and
- eight counts of crimes against humanity (persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds; murder; rape; deportation; inhumane acts (forcible transfer); imprisonment; inhumane acts (conditions of confinement); inhumane acts).
On 29 November 2017, the ICTY trial was concluded finding him guilty, and although some parts of his conviction were overturned, the judge did not reduce the initial sentencing of 20 years.[6][7][16] He was charged with crimes against "humanity, violations of the laws or customs of war, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions", including persecution, murders, expulsions, and imprisonment of Bosniaks, also "extensive appropriation of property not justified by military necessity" and "plunder of public or private property through the third category of joint criminal enterprise liability".[17] He was acquitted of some charges related to the destruction ofStari Most.[2] As he already served more than two-thirds of the sentence, he would probably have been released soon.[2][18]
Death
On 29 November 2017, Praljak died in hospital in The Hague soon after ingesting a liquid (presumably poison[2]) in front of the judges in the courtroom during pronouncement of the appeal judgement against him.[6][7][16] Presiding Judge Carmel Agius suspended the hearings, soon reacted ICTY medical staff who transported him to nearby HMC Hospital, and the courtroom was declared a crime scene for investigation.[8][19]
Praljak's last words after hearing his conviction:[20][21]
Croatian: Suci, Slobodan Praljak nije ratni zločinac, s prijezirom odbacujem vašu presudu!, lit. 'Judges, Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal, with disdain I reject your verdict!'
Subsequently he concluded:[20][21]
Croatian: To je otrov koji sam popio., lit. 'What I drank was poison.'
Reaction
The former ICTY judge Wolfgang Schomburg commented that "it is a tragedy that someone in such a situation has taken their own life".[22] The Croatian government offered condolences to Praljak's family and claimed the ICTY misrepresented its officials in the 1990s, while Croatian PM Andrej Plenković stated the "act during the announcement of the verdict by the Appeals Chamber, when he took his own life, speaks the most of deep moral injustice towards the six Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian people".[23] Miroslav Tuđman stated it was a "consequence of his moral position not to accept the verdict that has nothing to do with justice or reality",[6] Dragan Čović stated that he "showed before the whole world what kind of sacrifice he is ready to make to prove that he is not a war criminal",[2] Vojislav Šešelj commented that although he was an enemy it was a "heroic move, and for respect" and there should have been more such strong blows to the tribunal.[24] Martin Bell described him as a "theatrical character" who has "died in a theatrical way".[6] Almost a thousand Bosnian Croats gathered in a Mostar square to light candles to pay respect to Praljak.[2] Writing in The Telegraph, journalist Harry de Quetteville opined that the defiant suicide was "the most dramatic proof possible of a very uncomfortable reality: many in the Balkans refuse to accept that the horrific ethnic cleansing of the 1990s was wrong".[25]
Private life
Praljak was married to Kaćuša Babić. The couple had no children, but Praljak was close to his two stepchildren Nikola and Nataša, who took his last name.[10]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slobodan_Praljak
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