Slobodan Milošević

Slobodan Milošević
Слободан Милошевић
3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
In office
July 23, 1997 – October 7, 2000
Prime MinisterRadoje Kontić
Momir Bulatović
Preceded byZoran Lilić
Succeeded byVojislav Koštunica
1st President of Serbia
In office
January 11, 1991[a] – July 23, 1997
Prime MinisterDragutin Zelenović
Radoman Božović
Nikola Šainović
Mirko Marjanović
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byDragan Tomić (Acting)
Milan Milutinović
7th President of the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Serbia
In office
May 8, 1989 – January 11, 1991[a]
Prime MinisterDesimir Jevtić
Stanko Radmilović
Preceded byPetar Gračanin
Ljubiša Igić (Acting)
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Born(1941-08-20)20 August 1941
Požarevac, Yugoslavia
Died11 March 2006(2006-03-11) (aged 64)
The Hague, Netherlands
NationalitySerbian
Political partySocialist Party of Serbia
(after 1990)
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
(until 1990)
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1971⁠–⁠2006)​
ChildrenMarko Milošević
Marija Milošević
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade
Signature
a. ^ Became "President of the Presidency" of the Socialist Republic of Serbia (a constituent country of SFR Yugoslavia) on May 8, 1989. After SFR Yugoslavia collapsed, he stayed as the first President of the Republic of Serbia[a] from January 11, 1991.

Slobodan Milošević listen  (Serbian: Слободан Милошевић, pronounced [sloˈbodan miˈloʃevitɕ]; August 20, 1941 – March 11, 2006) was a Serbian Yugoslav president.[1]

Overview

He was the President of Serbia from 1989 to 1996, and then the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1996 to 2000. After his fall from power in 2001, he was sent to The Netherlands to stand trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague over charges of genocide.[2] However, he died after five years in prison before the trial was completed.[2] The UN tribunal said that Milosevic died of a heart attack.[3]

War crimes trials

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

2007 rulings

Following his death, in four separate rulings, he was found to be a part of a joint criminal enterprise which used crimes to remove Croats, Bosniaks and Albanians from large parts of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.

In 2007, in its rulings against Republic of Serbian Krajina President Milan Martić, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) concluded:

“ Between 1991 and 1995, Martić held positions of minister of interior, minister of defense and president of the self-proclaimed "Serbian Autonomous Region of Krajina" (SAO Krajina), which was later renamed "Republic of Serbian Krajina" (RSK). He was found to have participated during this period in a joint criminal enterprise which included Slobodan Milošević, whose aim was to create a unified Serbian state through commission of a widespread and systematic campaign of crimes against non-Serbs inhabiting areas in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina envisaged to become parts of such a state. ”

In February 2007, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) cleared Serbia under Milošević's rule of direct responsibility for some of the war crimes. However, the ICJ stated that[5]

“ [It was] conclusively proved that the Serbian leadership, and Milošević in particular, were fully aware [...] that massacres were likely to occur. ”

Kosovo rulings

In the two Kosovo rulings, the Nikola Šainović et al. and Vlastimir Đorđević cases, Milošević was found to have been "one of the crucial members" of the criminal enterprise aimed at uprooting large parts of Albanians from Kosovo.[6][7]

2016 ruling

In its 2016 ruling regarding Radovan Karadžić, the ICTY found that "there was no sufficient evidence presented in this case to find that Slobodan Milošević agreed with the common plan [to create territories ethnically cleansed of non-Serbs]" citing "Milošević's repeated criticism and disapproval of the policies and decisions made by the Accused and the Bosnian Serb leadership", though it also noted that[8][9]

“ Milošević provided assistance in the form of personnel, provisions and arms to Bosnian Serbs during the conflict. ”

International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

2021 ruling

In its 2021 ruling against Serbia's operatives Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatovićq, the follow-up International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals concluded:

“ The Trial Chamber, therefore, finds proven beyond reasonable doubt that, from at least August 1991, and at all times relevant to the crimes charged in the Indictment, a common criminal purpose existed to forcibly and permanently remove, through the commission of the crimes of persecution, murder, deportation and inhumane acts (forcible transfer), the majority of non-Serbs, principally Croats, Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croats, from large areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Trial Chamber finds that the common criminal purpose, as defined above, was shared by senior political, military, and police leadership in Serbia, the SAO Krajina, the SAO SBWS, and Republika Srpska, with the core members, among others and varying depending on the area and timing of the commission of the crimes, being Slobodan Milošević. ”

Footnotes

  1. ↑ A constituent republic of the FR Yugoslavia.

References

  1. ↑
    • "Europe | The downfall of Milosevic". BBC News. April 1, 2001. Retrieved May 22, 2025. Slobodan Milosevic was a dictator who won elections, a commander-in-chief who lost every war he ever launched, and the first and so far only head of state to be indicted by the international tribunal at The Hague. For 13 years Mr Milosevic was the only power in Serbia.
    • "Slobodan Milosevic: Resentful nonentity, bloodthirsty dictator". Slate. March 13, 2006. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
    • "Slobodan Milosevic - The Dictator". Balkan Insight. October 5, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
    • "Kurti warns of hegemony in Balkans, failure of Belgrade to distance from Milosevic". Euractiv. January 18, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2025. Asked if it is possible to normalise relations with Serbia, Kurti told the Swiss media, "Serbia is not a normal country because it has not distanced itself from the legacy of the dictator Slobodan Milosevic.
    • "22 years since the extradition of former dictator Slobodan Milosevic to The Hague". KosovaPress. July 10, 2024. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1
  3. ↑ "AP article on death of Milosevic". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2011-12-26. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  4. ↑ "Milan Martić sentenced to 35 years for crimes against humanity and war crimes". The Hague: International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. 12 June 2007.
  5. ↑ "UN clears Serbia of genocide". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. 27 February 2007.
  6. ↑ "Vlastimir Đorđević Convicted for Crimes in Kosovo". ICTY. 23 February 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Five Senior Serb Officials Convicted of Kosovo Crimes, One Acquitted". ICTY. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  8. ↑ Marsden, William (7 September 2016). "Why Milosevic doesn't deserve exoneration for war crimes". Ottawa Citizen.
  9. ↑ "Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadžić". ICTY. 24 March 2016. pp. 1238–1245, 1303.
  10. ↑ "The Prosecutor vs. Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović – Judgement" (PDF). The Hague: International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. 30 June 2021. p. 160.
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