Tihomir Blaškić

Tihomir Blaškić (born November 2, 1960 in Brestovsko , Kiseljak municipality , SFR Yugoslavia ) was commander (from 1994 general ) of the Croatian Defense Council HVO from 1992 to 1995 .

Blaškić commanded the HVO troops in the Lašva Valley in central Bosnia , where mainly Bosniaks and Croats lived. Between May 1992 and January 1993 tensions between these two communities intensified. In April 1993 Croatian armed forces, headed by Blaškić, attacked various Bosniak communities in the valley.

Charge, sentence and release

In 1996 the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) brought charges against Blaškić for serious war crimes . On March 3, 2000, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

The judgment put Blaškić on 17 March 2000 calling one. On July 29, 2004, the Appeals Chamber reduced the sentence to nine years in prison. In some cases he pursued legitimate military goals, in some cases he had received and carried out orders from other high-ranking people. In addition, numerous issues could not be unequivocally clarified. 16 of 19 counts were annulled.

The charges confirmed by the court in 2004 included: a .:

• deliberate killing of civilians
• deliberately causing great suffering or serious impairment of physical integrity or health
• Large-scale destruction of property
• inhuman treatment
• Taking civilians hostage
• illegal attacks on civilians and civil facilities
• Looting of public and private property
• Crimes against humanity
• Use of prisoners of war as human shields

On August 2, 2004, Blaškić was released from the largely served prison term.

literature

• Jasna Babić: Urota Blaškić . Večernji list, Zagreb 2005, ISBN 953-7161-63-3 .

Web links

• ICTY judgment against Blaškić

Individual evidence

1. ↑ UN Tribunal mitigates judgment against ex-General Blaskic.Retrieved May 3, 2015.
2. ↑ Bosnian-Croatian General Blaskic released from prison.Retrieved May 3, 2015.