Alija Izetbegović

Politician. He served as the first President of Bosnia-Herzegovina from December 20, 1990, to October 2000 and resigned with declining health. He is credited as an Islamic philosopher and author. He earned a law degree at the University of Sarajevo's Faculty of Law. After World War II, he was arrested and imprisoned for three years for his alleged involvement with Nazi forces. Since then, he served a total of eight years fighting for human rights. He also served as the Leader of the Muslim Party of Democratic Action or the (SDA). In 1970, Izetbegović published a manifesto entitled the "Islamic Declaration," expressing his views on relationships between Islam, state, and society, and the work was banned after publication. On August 11, 2006, his gravesite was badly damaged by a bomb from an unknown source.