Slobodan Praljak

Slobodan Praljak a adăugat o fotografie

acum 22 ore

R.I.P
Slobodan

Slobodan Praljak (Croatian pronunciation: [slobǒdan prǎːʎak]; 2 January 1945 – 29 November 2017) was a Bosnian Croat war criminal and general found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of committing violations of the laws of war, crimes against humanity, and breaches of the Geneva Conventions during the 1992–1994 Croat–Bosniak War. Praljak voluntarily joined the newly formed Croatian Armed Forces after the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence in 1991. Before and after the war he was an engineer, a television and theatre director, and a businessman. Praljak was indicted by, and voluntarily surrendered to, the ICTY in 2004. In 2013, he was convicted for war crimes against the Bosniak population during the Croat–Bosniak War alongside five other Bosnian Croat officials, and was sentenced to 20 years in jail (minus the time he had already spent in detention). Upon hearing the guilty verdict upheld in November 2017, Praljak stated that he rejected the verdict of the court, and fatally poisoned himself in the courtroom.

Slobodan Praljak a adăugat o fotografie

acum 22 ore

R.I.P
Slobodan

Early life and career Slobodan Praljak was born on 2 January 1945 in Čapljina, Independent State of Croatia (modern Bosnia and Herzegovina). His father Mirko worked for the security agency OZNA. Praljak attended high school in Široki Brijeg with the future Croatian Defence Minister Gojko Šušak. Praljak held three university degrees. In 1970, he graduated as an electrical engineer at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Zagreb with a GPA of 4.5/5. In 1971, he graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, majoring in philosophy and sociology. In 1972, Praljak graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art. At first, Praljak worked as a professor and manager of the electronics laboratory at the Nikola Tesla Vocational High School in Zagreb, then lectured on philosophy and sociology, and after 1973 was a freelance artist. Praljak was also a theatre director in theatres in Zagreb, Osijek and Mostar. He directed the television series Blesan i Tulipan (Blesan and Tulipan), television dramas Novela od Stanca (Prank for Stanac) and Sargaško more (Sargasso Sea), documentaries Smrt psa (Death of a Dog, 1980), Sandžak (Sanjak, 1990) and Duhan (Tobacco, 1990), and film Povratak Katarine Kožul (Return of Katarina Kožul, 1989).

Slobodan Praljak a adăugat o fotografie

acum 22 ore

R.I.P
Slobodan

Military activity Praljak drew public attention in September 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. After the Sarajevo Agreement, by 3 April 1992, he was made major general, received a number of responsibilities in the Ministry of Defence, and became one of the 14 members of the Croatian National Defence 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 Defence, and since 13 May 1993, representative of the Ministry of Defence in the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatian Defence Council (HVO). Praljak petitioned Alija Izetbegović to unblock Sarajevo but his propositions were rejected. From 24 July to 8 November 1993, Praljak was the Chief of Staff of the Croatian Defence Council. In spite of the conflict between Croats and Bosniaks in the Croat–Bosniak War, he sent a truck full of weapons to besieged Sarajevo to help Bosniaks. He also allowed the UNHCR's humanitarian convoy through to Mostar, which had been stopped…Citește mai mult

Slobodan Praljak a lăsat un gând

acum 22 ore

Postwar career After the war, Praljak became a businessman. In 1995, Praljak co-founded a company with his brother Zoran called Oktavijan. His company initially produced films, video, and television programs and published Praljak's books. It later engaged in real estate business by managing a business complex Centar 2000 in Zagreb. Since 2005, the company is owned and managed by his stepson Nikola Babić Praljak. In 2011 it had around 22 million kunas of revenue. Praljak was also a co-owner of Liberan, a company that has a share in Ljubuški Tobacco Factory, and owned other shares in few other companies. In 2008, the Croatian Ministry of Culture deemed that 18 of his works about the Croatian War of Independence, Bosnian War, and relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were not books but brochures of worthless literature, and in 2013 the Ministry of Finance made an enforcement charge of 435 thousand kunas. In total, he authored 25 works. Since 2012, the Hague Tribunal's secretariat requested Praljak to recover defence costs of around €2.8–3.3 million, as they estimated that he had assets and shares worth €6.5 million which allowed him to fund the costs of his defence. Praljak and his lawyer refused…Citește mai mult

Slobodan Praljak a lăsat un gând

acum 22 ore

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. On 5 April 2004, he voluntarily 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 Herzeg-Bosnia/HVO armed forces which committed mass war crimes against Bosnian Muslim population in eight municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina during a joint criminal enterprise between 1992 and 1994. In his role as a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Defence, he was closely involved in all aspects of not only the Herzeg-Bosnia/HVO military planning and operations but the actions of the Herzeg-Bosnia/HVO civilian police too. On 6 April, he appeared before ICTY and pleaded not guilty. He chose to defend himself without a lawyer. The indictment charged on the basis of their individual and superior criminal responsibility, but subsequently in judgment only on the basis of individual criminal responsibility. Praljak was found guilty on (taken from the UN press release 2004, 2017): four counts of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions (willful killing; unlawful deportation, transfer and confinement of a civilian; inhuman treatment; extensive…Citește mai mult

Slobodan Praljak a lăsat un gând

acum 22 ore

Death On 29 November 2017, during the pronouncement of the appeal judgment against him, Praljak addressed the judges, saying: "Judges, Slobodan Praljak is not a war criminal. With disdain, I reject your verdict!" He then drank what he said was poison, leading presiding judge Carmel Agius to suspend the hearings. ICTY medical staff transported Praljak to nearby HMC Hospital, where he died. The Dutch authorities declared the courtroom a crime scene and launched an investigation. His body was cremated in Zagreb in a private ceremony.

Slobodan Praljak a lăsat un gând

acum 22 ore

Reaction Former ICTY judges Wolfgang Schomburg and Richard Goldstone commented that "it is a tragedy that someone in such a situation has taken their own life". Goldstone added: "In a way, the victims are deprived of this deed. They did not get full justice." Martin Bell described Praljak as a "theatrical character" who "died in a theatrical way". Andrey Shary for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty noted that "Praljak's samurai final act might evoke respect or sympathy", but "individual perceptions of honor don't always coincide with correctness". Writing in The Daily 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". Former US Ambassador for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp compared Praljak's suicide by poisoning to that of another war crimes convict, Hermann Göring, his role model, noting that in both cases the verdict nevertheless "stands for all history in establishing the facts and in showing that the perpetrators of atrocities will be held to account". Praljak, like Göring, just managed to thwart the due process of law at its climax. The Government…Citește mai mult

Slobodan Praljak a lăsat un gând

acum 22 ore

Investigation A preliminary autopsy determined that Praljak was poisoned by potassium cyanide, which caused heart failure. How the poison was obtained and brought into the courtroom was to be the subject of an official investigation. Praljak's lawyer Nika Pinter suggested that he may have committed suicide because he could not accept being convicted as a war criminal and that the act had long been planned. The cyanide that Praljak took was not listed as a prohibited substance under Dutch law. In November 2018 Dutch authorities revealed that their investigation failed to establish how the cyanide was smuggled inside. "With regards to the investigation concerning assistance in the commission of suicide, the Dutch authorities conducted a thorough investigation of how Praljak could get hold of the cyanide. Witnesses were interviewed, video materials watched, rooms in which Praljak stayed were checked and numerous materials inspected. However, no information was found concerning the question on how Praljak came into possession of that substance", the prosecutors' report said. The report added that video surveillance recordings did not show if Praljak carried the vial of poison with him or if it was handed to him.

Slobodan Praljak a lăsat un gând

acum 22 ore

Personal life Praljak married Kaćuša Babić, the former wife of his close friend and poet Goran Babić. The couple had no children, but Praljak was close to his stepchildren, Nataša and Nikola, the latter adding the last name Praljak to his birth name.

Slobodan Praljak a lăsat un gând

acum 22 ore

Bibliography Prlić et al.: Case information sheet at ICTY