Slobodan Praljak

Slobodan Praljak (2 January 1945) is a Croatian politician and writer who served as general in the Croatian Army and the Croatian Defence Council, an army of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. In 2013, in a first instance verdict, he was among six Croat politicians convicted at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes during the Croat-Bosniak War. He was sentenced to 20 years in jail.

Slobodan Praljak has 3 university degrees. In 1970 he graduated as an electrical engineer at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Zagreb with a GPA of 4/5. He wrote his thesis there on the correction of chromatic image in the main of an electrical signal for television work. In 1971 he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy, majoring in philosophy and sociology. In 1972 he graduated from the Film Academy and began working in theater and TV. He also lectured in philosophy and psychology in Zagreb.

During 1970s and 1980s, he was a director of theaters in Zagreb, Osijek and Mostar.

In 1991 he signed up for the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia and reached the rank of major general. In 1992 he was assigned a number of roles in addition to his army post and for much of 1992-93 he wore several hats, working as:

• one of 14 members of the Republic of Croatia’s Council of National Defence
• member of Croatia’s state commission for relations with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)
• Assistant Minister of Defence and senior representative of the Croatian Ministry of Defence
• representative of the Croatian Ministry of Defence to the Herceg-Bosna/HVO government and armed forces

Slobodan Praljak is among six accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in relation to the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia.

In his indictment it is 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 Bosnian 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.

Taken from the UN press release:

• 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).