Goran Hadžic
Encyclopedia
Goran Hadžić is a former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina
who was in office during the Croatian War of Independence
. He is accused of crimes against humanity and of violation of the laws and customs of war by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
.
The court issued an indictment charging him with involvement in criminal activity in Croatia from June 1991 to December 1993 with the goal of forced and permanent expulsion of non-Serb population in one third of the territory of Croatia
, and the persecution of non-Serbs in Vukovar
. The Tribunal's last remaining fugitive, Hadžić was captured by Serbian authorities on 20 July 2011.
, at the time in SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia; and in his youth was politically active as a member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
. Prior to the Croatian War of Independence
, Hadžić worked as a warehouseman
. He was president of the local community of Pačetin. In the Spring of 1990, as a representative of the League of Communists Party for Democratic Changes
, he was elected to the Municipal Committee of Vukovar
.
On 10 June 1990 he joined the Serbian Democratic Party
(SDS) and was elected president of the party's branch in Vukovar. In March of 1991 he was president of the Municipal Committee of Vukovar, a member of the Main Committee and Executive Committee of the Serb Democratic Party in Knin
, and president of the Regional Committee of the Serb Democratic Party for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia. Before 25 June, 1991, he was a leader of the Serbian National Council
and of the Serbian Democratic Forum, which covered Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia.
in late March 1991, beginning the Croatian War of Independence
. On 25 June 1991, a group of eastern Slavonia
n Serbs organized a congress (Velika narodna skupština Slavonije Baranje i Zapadnog Srema) where they decided to constitute a "Serb Autonomous Oblast" (SAO) of the region, the SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia, and also to separate the region from the Republic of Croatia, which was still part of Yugoslavia. Hadžić was elected as a candidate to lead the entity's government.
On 26 February 1992 the two Slavonian SAOs formally joined the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina
(RSK), while the Assembly of the RSK replaced Milan Babić
with Hadžić as the new Premier of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Babić was deposed because he argued against the Vance
peace plan, unlike Milošević
. Hadžić was reported to have boasted that he was "a messenger for Slobodan Milošević". He held the leadership position until December 1994.
In September 1993, when Croatia started Operation Medak Pocket
, Hadžić sent an urgent request to Belgrade for reinforcements, arms and equipment. The request was ignored by the Serbian officials, although some 4,000 paramilitaries under the command of Arkan (Serb Volunteer Guard
), arrived, to bolster the RSK army. In February 1994, Hadžić's presidency ended when Milan Martić
was elected President. In 1995, he threatened to have the eastern Slavonian district secede from Krajina because of plans to unite Krajina with Republika Srpska
.
After Operation Storm
in August 1995, parts of RSK in eastern Slavonia remained outside the Croatian government's control. Between 1996 and 1997, Hadžić was President of the Srem-Baranja district, after which the region was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia under the provisions of the Erdut Agreement
. Hadžić subsequently moved to Serbia in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 2000, he attended the funeral of indicted war criminal Željko Ražnatović
-Arkan in Belgrade
, calling him a "big hero".
in Croatia on two counts: in 1995 he was convicted for rocket attacks on Šibenik
and Vodice
to 20 years in prison. In 1999 he was convicted for war crimes in Tenja
, near Osijek
, and sentenced to an additional 20 years imprisonment. In 2001, Interpol
put him on its Most Wanted Fugitives list and issued a Red corner notice.
In 2002, Croatia's state attorney brought another indictment against Hadžić, the so-called Vukovar Three (Veselin Šljivančanin
, Mile Mrkšić
and Miroslav Radić) and the Yugoslav People's Army's
senior commanders, alleging the murder of almost 1,300 Croats in Vukovar, Osijek, Vinkovci, Županja
and elsewhere.
indicted Hadžić for war crimes on 4 June 2004.
Hadžić faces 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in the forcible removal and murder of thousands of Croatian civilians from the Republic of Croatia between 1991–93. His indictment specifically cites the 1991 Vukovar massacre
of 250 mostly Croats, from the Vukovar hospital; the Dalj
, Erdut
and Lovas
massacres; involvement in Stajićevo
, Begejci
and Sremska Mitrovica
camps; and the alleged wanton destruction of homes and religious and cultural buildings in Dalj, Erdut, Lovas, Tovarnik
and Vukovar
.
In the weeks before his arrest, Hadžić disappeared from his home in Novi Sad
, Serbia. In 2005, Serbian media reported he might be hiding in a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Irig or in Bijela
, Montenegro. Nenad Čanak
, the leader of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina
, claimed in 2006 that Hadžić was hiding in a monastery somewhere on the Fruška Gora mountain. At one point he was also rumoured to be hiding in Belarus
.
In October 2007, the Serbian government council for national security had offered €250,000 for information leading to Hadžić's arrest. In 2010, the Rewards for Justice Program
was offering an award of up to $5 million USD for information leading to Hadžić's arrest.
In 2010, Serbia raised the reward for Hadžić's arrest to $1.4 million USD. When asked by the press whether Hadžić's trial could be transferred from the ICTY, Croatian Serb politician Milorad Pupovac
indicated that Serbia should try Hadžić.
Serbian police raided Hadžić's home on 9 October 2009 and impounded some of his belongings but did not make any statements following the operation.
In 2010, the Council of the European Union
blocked Hadžić's family from entering the EU.
announced that Hadžić had been arrested by Serbian authorities. He added that the arrest closes a "difficult chapter" in Serb history
.
Police located him near Krušedol
village on the Fruška Gora
mountain at 8:24, where he was presumed to have been since he went into hiding following the ICTY indictment, after a stolen Modigliani painting led investigators to discover his whereabouts. Looking to cash in on the portrait, Hadzic was tracked down by authorities after trying to sell it. At the time of his arrest he was the last remaining fugitive indicted by the ICTY. He was taken into custody in Belgrade
.
Reaction
The European Union
continued to insist on his arrest even after Ratko Mladić
was extradited to the Hague
to face trial. The EU said that the fugitives were holding back Serbia's membership
to the body and the country thus, according to the New York Times, "completed its obligations to the United Nations tribunal". It is expected that Serbia will seek to become a candidate in December. EU leaders congratulated Serbia for his arrest and called it a signal of Serbia's commitment to "a better European future." The Netherlands' Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal
said of the arrest that "it is of course another good step that has been taken. After Mladic was arrested, we said to the Serbs: now it is really down to you making that last step and catching Hadzic [to further EU succession]. And that has now happened. That involves human rights, tackling corruption and fraud, getting the economy in order and not least, co-operation with the Yugoslavia tribunal. That last point is really happening."
It also follows Tadić's key goal in Serbian foreign policy
of joining the EU. Hadžić could be extradited to the Hague "within days." His lawyer, Toma Fila, said that he would not appeal a court ruling that he be extradited to ICTY in the Hague: "Goran Hadžić signed [a document] that he renounces his right to file an appeal... [The] conditions for his transfer have been met. It is realistic [to assume] that he could be transferred from Friday afternoon." Tadić then said that "with this, Serbia, has concluded its most difficult chapter in the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal."
Extradition
On 22 July, Justice Minister Snežana Malović
announced that he had been extradited to the Hague in a small Cessna
plane after being allowed visits by his sick mother, wife, son and sister in a convoy
of jeeps and police cars that left the detention unit of the Serbian war crimes court in the morning and headed first to Novi Sad
and then to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
. He arrived at Rotterdam airport after he refused to appeal his extradition orders. The Croatian government then also directed its Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice to "take all the necessary steps" and try and bring Hadžić to a war crimes trial in the country to also face other "serious crimes" they claimed that were committed in Croatia. The government of Croatia
was said to have wanted to ensure that Hadžić serve the two prison sentences ordered in absentia by Croatian courts.
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
who was in office during the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
. He is accused of crimes against humanity and of violation of the laws and customs of war by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
.
The court issued an indictment charging him with involvement in criminal activity in Croatia from June 1991 to December 1993 with the goal of forced and permanent expulsion of non-Serb population in one third of the territory of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, and the persecution of non-Serbs in Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
. The Tribunal's last remaining fugitive, Hadžić was captured by Serbian authorities on 20 July 2011.
Early life
Hadžić was born in the village of PačetinPačetin
Pačetin is a village in the municipality of Trpinja, Vukovar-Srijem County, easternmost Croatia. The population is 548 .It is located between Vukovar and Vinkovci.-Population:-References:...
, at the time in SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia; and in his youth was politically active as a member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
. Prior to the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
, Hadžić worked as a warehouseman
Warehouseman
A warehouseman can be someone who works in a warehouse, usually delivering goods for sale or storage, or, in older usage, someone who owns a warehouse and sells goods directly from it or from a shop fronting onto the warehouse .An Italian warehouseman was someone who stocked goods from Italy such...
. He was president of the local community of Pačetin. In the Spring of 1990, as a representative of the League of Communists Party for Democratic Changes
Social Democratic Party of Croatia
Social Democratic Party of Croatia , commonly referred to in Croatia as simply Social Democratic Party , is the largest centre-left political party in Croatia...
, he was elected to the Municipal Committee of Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
.
On 10 June 1990 he joined the Serbian Democratic Party
Serb Democratic Party (Croatia)
The Serb Democratic Party was a political party in Croatia whose primary constituency were the Serbs of Croatia. It led the Republic of Serbian Krajina. It existed between 1990 and 1995.The SDS was founded in the Socialist Republic of Croatia on February 17, 1990...
(SDS) and was elected president of the party's branch in Vukovar. In March of 1991 he was president of the Municipal Committee of Vukovar, a member of the Main Committee and Executive Committee of the Serb Democratic Party in Knin
Knin
Knin is a historical town in the Šibenik-Knin county of Croatia, located near the source of the river Krka at , in the Dalmatian hinterland, on the railroad Zagreb–Split. Knin rose to prominence twice in history, as a one-time capital of both the Kingdom of Croatia and briefly of the...
, and president of the Regional Committee of the Serb Democratic Party for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia. Before 25 June, 1991, he was a leader of the Serbian National Council
Serbian National Council
The Serb National Council is elected political, consulting and coordinating body acting as a form of self government of Serbs in the Republic of Croatia.The organisation was founded in July 1997 after the Erdut Agreement, and its founding members were:...
and of the Serbian Democratic Forum, which covered Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia.
Croatian War
Hadžić was involved in the Plitvice Lakes incidentPlitvice Lakes incident
The Plitvice Lakes incident of late March/early April 1991 was an incident at the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence...
in late March 1991, beginning the Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...
. On 25 June 1991, a group of eastern Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
n Serbs organized a congress (Velika narodna skupština Slavonije Baranje i Zapadnog Srema) where they decided to constitute a "Serb Autonomous Oblast" (SAO) of the region, the SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia, and also to separate the region from the Republic of Croatia, which was still part of Yugoslavia. Hadžić was elected as a candidate to lead the entity's government.
On 26 February 1992 the two Slavonian SAOs formally joined the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
(RSK), while the Assembly of the RSK replaced Milan Babić
Milan Babic
Milan Babić was from 1991 to 1995 the first President of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, a Croatian region at the time of the war largely populated by a Serbs of Croatia that wished to break away from Croatia.He was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former...
with Hadžić as the new Premier of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Babić was deposed because he argued against the Vance
Cyrus Vance
Cyrus Roberts Vance was an American lawyer and United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980...
peace plan, unlike Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
. Hadžić was reported to have boasted that he was "a messenger for Slobodan Milošević". He held the leadership position until December 1994.
In September 1993, when Croatia started Operation Medak Pocket
Operation Medak Pocket
Operation Medak Pocket: Mid-September 1993 United Nations Protection Force and the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry advanced into the Medak Pocket, named after the village of Medak, in Southern Croatia, with orders to implement a ceasefire between the Croatian Army Troops...
, Hadžić sent an urgent request to Belgrade for reinforcements, arms and equipment. The request was ignored by the Serbian officials, although some 4,000 paramilitaries under the command of Arkan (Serb Volunteer Guard
Serb Volunteer Guard
The Serb Volunteer Guard also known as Arkan's Tigers was a Serbian volunteer paramilitary unit, founded and led by Željko Ražnatović, that fought in Croatia ; Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the Kosovo War ....
), arrived, to bolster the RSK army. In February 1994, Hadžić's presidency ended when Milan Martić
Milan Martic
Milan Martić is a Serbian politician, former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina...
was elected President. In 1995, he threatened to have the eastern Slavonian district secede from Krajina because of plans to unite Krajina with Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska is one of two main political entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...
.
After Operation Storm
Operation Storm
Operation Storm is the code name given to a large-scale military operation carried out by Croatian Armed Forces, in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to gain back control of parts of Croatia which had been claimed by separatist ethnic Serbs, since early...
in August 1995, parts of RSK in eastern Slavonia remained outside the Croatian government's control. Between 1996 and 1997, Hadžić was President of the Srem-Baranja district, after which the region was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia under the provisions of the Erdut Agreement
Erdut Agreement
The Erdut Agreement , officially the Basic Agreement on the Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium, was the agreement reached on November 12, 1995 between the authorities of the Republic of Croatia and the local Serb authorities of the Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia...
. Hadžić subsequently moved to Serbia in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 2000, he attended the funeral of indicted war criminal Željko Ražnatović
Željko Ražnatovic
Željko Ražnatović , widely known as Arkan was a Serbian career criminal and later a paramilitary leader who was notable for organizing and leading a paramilitary force in the Yugoslav Wars...
-Arkan in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, calling him a "big hero".
Croatian war crimes charges
Hadžić was prosecuted and tried in absentiaIn absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
in Croatia on two counts: in 1995 he was convicted for rocket attacks on Šibenik
Šibenik
Šibenik is a historic town in Croatia, with population of 51,553 . It is located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea...
and Vodice
Vodice, Croatia
Vodice is a town in the Šibenik-Knin County, Croatia. It borders the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 8,902 .-History:Vodice was first mentioned in 1402 although it was founded already in the Roman times as Arausa. Its name derives from the word meaning water sources which supplied the whole...
to 20 years in prison. In 1999 he was convicted for war crimes in Tenja
Tenja
Tenja is a village in eastern Slavonia, Croatia, located just southeast of Osijek. The population is 7,401.-References:...
, near Osijek
Osijek
Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 83,496 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja county...
, and sentenced to an additional 20 years imprisonment. In 2001, Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
put him on its Most Wanted Fugitives list and issued a Red corner notice.
In 2002, Croatia's state attorney brought another indictment against Hadžić, the so-called Vukovar Three (Veselin Šljivančanin
Veselin Šljivancanin
Veselin Šljivančanin is a former Montenegrin officer in the Yugoslav People's Army who participated in the Battle of Vukovar and was subsequently convicted on a war crimes indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for his role in the Vukovar massacre...
, Mile Mrkšić
Mile Mrkšic
Mile Mrkšić is a former Serb Colonel of the Yugoslav People's Army in charge of the unit involved in the Battle of Vukovar during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991...
and Miroslav Radić) and the Yugoslav People's Army's
Yugoslav People's Army
The Yugoslav People's Army , also referred to as the Yugoslav National Army , was the military of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.-Origins:The origins of the JNA can...
senior commanders, alleging the murder of almost 1,300 Croats in Vukovar, Osijek, Vinkovci, Županja
Županja
Županja is a city in eastern Slavonia, Croatia, located 254 km east of Zagreb. It is administratively part of the Vukovar-Syrmia county. It is inhabited by 12,185 people ....
and elsewhere.
ICTY charges
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former YugoslaviaInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
indicted Hadžić for war crimes on 4 June 2004.
Hadžić faces 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in the forcible removal and murder of thousands of Croatian civilians from the Republic of Croatia between 1991–93. His indictment specifically cites the 1991 Vukovar massacre
Vukovar massacre
The Vukovar massacre, also known as Vukovar hospital massacre or simply Ovčara, was a war crime that took place between November 20 and November 21, 1991 near the city of Vukovar, a mixed Croat/Serb community in northeastern Croatia...
of 250 mostly Croats, from the Vukovar hospital; the Dalj
Dalj massacre
Dalj killings and Dalj massacre refer to the events beginning on 1 August 1991 which resulted in the murder of 11 Croatian civilians and 28 Croatian policemen in the village of Dalj, eastern Slavonia at the hand of Serbian paramilitaries, during the Croatian War of Independence.-August killings:At...
, Erdut
Erdut massacre
After the town of Erdut was forcefully taken over by the rebel Serb forces and JNA and annexed to the puppet state of Republic of Serbian Krajina during Croatian War of Independence, Croats and other non-Serbs were either expelled or killed, with Serbs repopulating empty villages in the area.From...
and Lovas
Lovas massacre
Lovas massacre were the killings of Croat detainees in the villages of Lovas and neighbouring Opatovac in eastern Slavonia, Croatia. The civilians were killed by Croatian Serb paramilitary forces during the Croatian War of Independence in the period from October 10, 1991 to the end of that...
massacres; involvement in Stajićevo
Stajicevo camp
The Stajićevo camp was an agricultural farm in Stajićevo near Zrenjanin, Serbia where Croatian prisoners of war and civilians were kept by Serbian authorities. The camp also acted as a transit facility where prisoners were taken before being moved to the Sremska Mitrovica camp...
, Begejci
Begejci camp
The Begejci camp was a detention camp established in September-October 1991 in Begejci near Zrenjanin, Serbia where Croatian prisoners of war and civilians were kept by Serbian authorities during the Croatian War of Independence. The detainees were mostly brought from Vukovar and some were later...
and Sremska Mitrovica
Sremska Mitrovica camp
Sremska Mitrovica prison is the biggest prison in Serbia, consisting of two facilities. It is situated in Sremska Mitrovica, Vojvodina province....
camps; and the alleged wanton destruction of homes and religious and cultural buildings in Dalj, Erdut, Lovas, Tovarnik
Tovarnik
Tovarnik is a municipality in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in Croatia. According to the 2001 census, there are 3,335 inhabitants, 90.61% which are Croats. The municipality is part of Syrmia. It is the birthplace of great Croatian poet Antun Gustav Matoš....
and Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
.
In the weeks before his arrest, Hadžić disappeared from his home in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
, Serbia. In 2005, Serbian media reported he might be hiding in a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Irig or in Bijela
Bijela
Bijela is a coastal town within the municipality of Herceg Novi, Montenegro. It is located north of Herceg Novi, by the Verige strait of the Kotor Bay...
, Montenegro. Nenad Čanak
Nenad Canak
Nenad Čanak is a Serbian politician...
, the leader of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina
League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina
The League of Vojvodina Social Democrats is a regionalist social democratic political party in Serbia...
, claimed in 2006 that Hadžić was hiding in a monastery somewhere on the Fruška Gora mountain. At one point he was also rumoured to be hiding in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
.
In October 2007, the Serbian government council for national security had offered €250,000 for information leading to Hadžić's arrest. In 2010, the Rewards for Justice Program
Rewards For Justice Program
The Rewards for Justice Program is the counterterrorism rewards program of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service . The Secretary of State is currently offering rewards for information that prevents or favorably resolves acts of international terrorism against U.S. persons or...
was offering an award of up to $5 million USD for information leading to Hadžić's arrest.
In 2010, Serbia raised the reward for Hadžić's arrest to $1.4 million USD. When asked by the press whether Hadžić's trial could be transferred from the ICTY, Croatian Serb politician Milorad Pupovac
Milorad Pupovac
Milorad Pupovac , is Croatian politician and linguist. He is member of Sabor and president of Serb National Council.-Education:...
indicated that Serbia should try Hadžić.
Serbian police raided Hadžić's home on 9 October 2009 and impounded some of his belongings but did not make any statements following the operation.
In 2010, the Council of the European Union
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...
blocked Hadžić's family from entering the EU.
Arrest
On 20 July 2011, Serbian President Boris TadićBoris Tadic
Boris Tadić is the President of Serbia and leader of the Democratic Party. He was elected to a five-year term on 27 June 2004, and was sworn into office on 11 July. He was re-elected for a de facto second five-year term on 3 February 2008 and was sworn in on 15 February...
announced that Hadžić had been arrested by Serbian authorities. He added that the arrest closes a "difficult chapter" in Serb history
History of Serbia
The history of Serbia, as a country, begins with the Slavic settlements in the Balkans, established in the 6th century in territories governed by the Byzantine Empire. Through centuries, the Serbian realm evolved into a Kingdom , then an Empire , before the Ottomans annexed it in 1540...
.
Police located him near Krušedol
Krušedol Selo
Krušedol Selo is a village in Serbia. It is located in the Irig municipality, in the Srem District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 388 people . It lies on the southeast slopes of Fruška gora mountain...
village on the Fruška Gora
Fruška Gora
Fruška Gora is a mountain in north Syrmia. Most part of the territory is located within Vojvodina, Serbia, but a smaller part on its western side overlaps the territory of Croatia...
mountain at 8:24, where he was presumed to have been since he went into hiding following the ICTY indictment, after a stolen Modigliani painting led investigators to discover his whereabouts. Looking to cash in on the portrait, Hadzic was tracked down by authorities after trying to sell it. At the time of his arrest he was the last remaining fugitive indicted by the ICTY. He was taken into custody in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
.
Reaction
The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
continued to insist on his arrest even after Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
was extradited to the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
to face trial. The EU said that the fugitives were holding back Serbia's membership
Accession of Serbia to the European Union
The accession of Serbia to the European Union is the process of the Republic of Serbia being admitted into the framework of the European Union as a full-fledged member state.Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on 22 December 2009...
to the body and the country thus, according to the New York Times, "completed its obligations to the United Nations tribunal". It is expected that Serbia will seek to become a candidate in December. EU leaders congratulated Serbia for his arrest and called it a signal of Serbia's commitment to "a better European future." The Netherlands' Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal
Uri Rosenthal
Uriël "Uri" Rosenthal is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He is the Minister of Foreign Affairs since October 14, 2010 in the Cabinet Rutte. He served as a Member of the Senate from June 8, 1999 until October 14, 2010. And the Parliamentary leader in the Senate...
said of the arrest that "it is of course another good step that has been taken. After Mladic was arrested, we said to the Serbs: now it is really down to you making that last step and catching Hadzic [to further EU succession]. And that has now happened. That involves human rights, tackling corruption and fraud, getting the economy in order and not least, co-operation with the Yugoslavia tribunal. That last point is really happening."
It also follows Tadić's key goal in Serbian foreign policy
Foreign relations of Serbia
Foreign relations of Serbia are accomplished by efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Serbia has inherited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with all of its holdings, after the dissolution of the previous state union with Montenegro...
of joining the EU. Hadžić could be extradited to the Hague "within days." His lawyer, Toma Fila, said that he would not appeal a court ruling that he be extradited to ICTY in the Hague: "Goran Hadžić signed [a document] that he renounces his right to file an appeal... [The] conditions for his transfer have been met. It is realistic [to assume] that he could be transferred from Friday afternoon." Tadić then said that "with this, Serbia, has concluded its most difficult chapter in the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal."
Extradition
On 22 July, Justice Minister Snežana Malović
Snežana Malovic
Snežana Malović is a Serbian politician who is Minister of Justice in the Government of Serbia, and a member of the Democratic Party....
announced that he had been extradited to the Hague in a small Cessna
Cessna
The Cessna Aircraft Company is an airplane manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Their main products are general aviation aircraft. Although they are the most well known for their small, piston-powered aircraft, they also produce business jets. The company is a subsidiary...
plane after being allowed visits by his sick mother, wife, son and sister in a convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
of jeeps and police cars that left the detention unit of the Serbian war crimes court in the morning and headed first to Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
and then to Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is Serbia's busiest airport, also known as Surčin , after a nearby Belgrade district.Named after Nikola Tesla, the airport is situated west, of central Belgrade, in the Municipality of Surčin, surrounded by Syrmia's fertile lowlands...
. He arrived at Rotterdam airport after he refused to appeal his extradition orders. The Croatian government then also directed its Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice to "take all the necessary steps" and try and bring Hadžić to a war crimes trial in the country to also face other "serious crimes" they claimed that were committed in Croatia. The government of Croatia
Government of Croatia
The Government of the Republic of Croatia , commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government , is the main element of the executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the President of the Government , commonly abbreviated to premier...
was said to have wanted to ensure that Hadžić serve the two prison sentences ordered in absentia by Croatian courts.
Trial
On 25 July, he was brought for his initial trial hearing, which lasted 15 minutes. He declined to enter a plea for the charges against him during the war in Croatian war. His duty counsel Vladimir Petrovic said that: "Mr [Goran] Hadzic is not going to enter a plea today. He is going to avail himself of the rights granted to him..."External links
- The Prosecutor v. Hadžić (IT-04-75), International Criminal Tribunal for the former YugoslaviaInternational Criminal Tribunal for the former YugoslaviaThe International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
- Wanted for genocide by Croatian authorities, Ministry of the Interior (Croatia)Ministry of the Interior (Croatia)The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia is the ministry in the Government of Croatia which is in charge of state security among other roles...
- Wanted: Goran Hadžić, InterpolInterpolInterpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...