Ljubomir Ćesić

Ljubomir Ćesić (Rojs)

Ljubomir Ćesić (born February 20, 1958 in Batin , Posušje , Yugoslavia ), called Rojs , is a retired general of the Croatian Armed Forces (HV) and a politician.

Life

Growing up in Herzegovina as the son of Marinko Ćesić, he worked as a bus driver since 1984. He mostly drove the route from southern Germany to Yugoslavia, which is mainly used by guest workers . He got his nickname Rojs because of his fascination for luxury vehicles from Rolls-Royce .

Ćesić became known to the Croatian public when he drove Croatian police forces during the armed incident near Plitvice Lakes on March 31, 1991 . The bus he was driving was ambushed and shot at and in this situation Ćesić was able to avoid major losses thanks to his calm, careful behavior. This first confrontation between Serbian and Croatian police officers or paramilitary forces is considered to be the beginning of the Croatian War . Then began his military career as a driver of the Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Šušak (1945-1998) with whom he was also friendly. In the early 1990s, Ćesić was given command of the 66th Civil Engineering Regiment of the Croatian Armed Forces . The unit built mountain roads on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Serbian Krajina , which made it possible to bypass these areas during the 1995 Oluja military operation . For his achievements Ćesić was raised to the rank of general .

After the war he began studying at the Faculty of Transportation Science at the University of Zagreb . He finished his studies in 1998 at the age of 40 in record time.

Then he began to get involved politically in the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), where he was assigned to the right-wing wing. From February 2, 2000 to December 22, 2003 he was a member of the Croatian Parliament ( Sabor ).

In the presidential elections in Croatia in 2005 , he finished sixth as an independent candidate with 1.85 percent of the valid votes after he had renounced the HDZ.

He is also a leading member of the Committee of War Veterans, particularly advocating Ante Gotovina wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia . On June 29, 2004, he and four other Croatian citizens were placed on the list of undesirable persons in the EU because he is suspected of helping alleged and accused war criminals to escape.

Awards (selection)

• 1995: Order of the Ban Jelačić ( Red bana Jelačića )
• 1997: Order of the Ante Starčević ( Red Ante Starčevića )
• 1998: Order of Prince Trpimir ( Red kneza Trpimira s ogrlicom i Danicom )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ko su Hrvati najmoćniji. ( Memento of the original from August 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: BH dani , April 13, 2001. 
2. ↑ Five Croatian citizens declared persona non grata in the EU. ( Memento of March 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: Deutsche Welle , July 1, 2004.