Veselin Šljivančanin

Veselin Šljivančanin (Веселин Шљиванчанин) (born June 13, 1953 in Pavez, the municipality of Žabljak, Montenegro, Yugoslavia) is a former officer of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). In 2007 he was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for his role in the Vukovar massacre. He is of the Drobnjaci Montenegrin clan.

Vukovar 1991

As a Major of JNA, Šljivančanin took part in the battle of Vukovar which was fought from the end of August until November 18, 1991. He was sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia of being guilty of "aiding and abetting the torture of the prisoners" in the mass killing of about 194 prisoners of Croat ethnicity that followed after the capture of Vukovar. He was sentenced to five years of prison, nearly four of which he has already served in custody. The ICTY sentenced can apply to be released if they served two thirds of their sentence, which will possibly occur with Veselin.

Military background from aftermath

After the fall of Vukovar, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was placed in command of a brigade of JNA stationed at Podgorica (then still Titograd), Montenegro. He was promoted to Colonel in the beginning of 1996 (now in the new national army following the disbanding of the JNA) and transferred to the Military Academy in Belgrade, where he served as a lecturer in military tactics. He retired from military service in October 2001.

Indictment

Šljivančanin was indicted in 1995, along with Mile Mrkšić, Miroslav Radić and Slavko Dokmanović, by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The indictment accused him of "responsibility for the mass killing at Ovčara, near Vukovar, of approximately 260 captive non-Serb men", on the following grounds:
*he was in direct command of Serb forces that took control of the Vukovar Hospital on 18 November 1991 and evacuated people from there over the following days to the Ovčara farm building;
*he personally directed the selection and removal from the hospital of about 400 non-Serbs whom the JNA suspected to be Croatian paramilitaries;
*he ordered JNA soldiers under his command to deliver custody of the detainees to other Serb forces who physically executed them.

He was arrested in Belgrade by Serbian authorities on June 13, 2003, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2986446.stm Serbs clash over war crimes arrest] , BBC News, 13 June, 2003] as part of the new policy of Serbia and Montenegro in which they agreed to comply with the UN and the ICTY. He was handed over to the ICTY on July 1. The trial against him commenced in October, 2005.

The court's verdict on September 27, 2007, found Šljivančanin guilty of "aiding and abetting the torture of the prisoners" and sentenced him to five years in prison. [http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2007/pr1185e-summary.htm A SUMMARY OF JUDGEMENT FOR MILE MRKŠIĆ, MIROSLAV RADIĆ AND VESELIN ŠLJIVANČANIN] ] He was found not-guilty of crimes against humanity, as the court found that the Serbian Territorial Defence and local Serb paramilitaries had carried out the killings. However, Šljivančanin as a JNA officer did not prevent the prisoners' beatings by the local Serb forces.

The sentence caused outrage among the Croatian public and press, with Croatia's political leaders voicing outrage to the verdict. [ [http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=175501&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21 Croatian press slams ‘scandalous’ Vukovar verdict] , Gulf Times] The BBC World Service interviewed one of the administrators of Vukovar's hospital, who likened the trial in the Hague to a civilian court hearing in Croatia, whereby "people who steal cars can be given 20 years in prison." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7017758.stm Croatian anger at Vukovar verdict] , BBC News, 28 Sept. 2007]

ee also

*Croatian War of Independence

References

External links

* [http://www.un.org/icty/glance/mrksic.htm ICTY Case Sheet]
* [http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mrk-3cai041105.htm ICTY Amended Indictment]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1937767.stm BBC News Profile on The 'Vukovar Three'] , BBC News, 9 March, 2004