Ivica Mlivončić
Encyclopedia
Ivica Mlivončić is a controversial Croatia
n author
and columnist
in Slobodna Dalmacija
from Split
. He became unpopular among liberal
and left wing circles while working for BH Danas, a weekly newspaper based in Bosnia and Herzegovina
, due to the fact he publicly attacked his colleagues who were investigating large scope war crimes and ethnic cleansing
committed by the Croats
on Bosniaks
in the light of Karađorđevo meeting during the Bosnian war
. On the other hand his popularity grew among Croatian nationalists. In his books he defends Croatia
and instead attacks Bosniaks, British
intelligence structures
, KOS - the counter-intelligence service of the Yugoslav People's Army
, Iran
, Al Qaeda and sometimes other Western nations for alleged initiation and/or stimulation of the Croat-Bosniak war
.
During the ICTY trials against Croat war leaders, many Croatian journalists participated as the defence witnesses trying to relativise war crimes committed by Croatian troops. During the trial against general Tihomir Blaškić
(later convicted of war crimes on Bosnian Muslims), Ivica Mlivončić, tried to defend general Blaškić presenting number of false claims about alleged "genocide against Croats committed by Bosnian Muslims" in the book "Zločin s pečatom" he wrote, which Trial Chambers described as irrelevant for the case. One of the most obvious examples of war propaganda presented in the book was justification and explanation of the Stupni Do massacre
committed by the Croats on Bosnian Muslim civilians. Ivica Mlivončić described the village of Stupni Do as a stronghold used by elite Bosnian Army troops with significant amount of artillery against Croatian Defence Council
. However, in the verdict against Dario Kordić
, ICTY found that Stupni Do was a loosely organised village; with no sign of a military build up, fortification
or any sign of artillery
. It was loosely protected by six Bosnian soldiers.
After Blaškić's conviction, Ivica Mlivončić continued to write in Slobodna Dalmacija against the ICTY presenting it "as the court against Croats", with chauvinistic claims that the ICTY cannot be unbiassed because "it is financed by Saudi Arabia
(Muslims)".
In 2007 he published a book about alleged Al Qaeda role during the Bosnian war, a favorite subject by Serbian and Croatian propaganda against Bosniaks.
Croatia Libertas, an organization which supports Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia
restoration and separation from Bosnia and Herzegovina, filed lawsuits against several Bosniak politicians and military leaders solely based on Ivica Mlivončić's book "Muslim Concentration Camps for Croats 1991-1995 in BiH". The lawsuits allege that Bosniak officials committed war crimes against 375 Croats held in detention camps. The listed officials include Bosnian Presidency member Haris Silajdžić
, who served as prime minister when the alleged war crimes took place, and current Defence Minister Selmo Cikotić
.
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 ...
n author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
in Slobodna Dalmacija
Slobodna Dalmacija
Slobodna Dalmacija is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Split.The first issue of Slobodna Dalmacija was published on June 17, 1943 by Tito's Partisans in a cave on Mosor, a mountain near Split, which was occupied by the Italian army during that time. The paper was later published in various...
from Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
. He became unpopular among liberal
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
and left wing circles while working for BH Danas, a weekly newspaper based in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, due to the fact he publicly attacked his colleagues who were investigating large scope war crimes and ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
committed by the Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
on Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...
in the light of Karađorđevo meeting during the Bosnian war
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
. On the other hand his popularity grew among Croatian nationalists. In his books he defends 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 instead attacks Bosniaks, British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
intelligence structures
Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
, KOS - the counter-intelligence service of the Yugoslav People's Army
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...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Al Qaeda and sometimes other Western nations for alleged initiation and/or stimulation of the Croat-Bosniak war
Croat-Bosniak war
The Croat–Bosniak War was a conflict between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the self-proclaimed Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia supported by the Republic of Croatia, that lasted from June 19, 1992 – February 23, 1994...
.
During the ICTY trials against Croat war leaders, many Croatian journalists participated as the defence witnesses trying to relativise war crimes committed by Croatian troops. During the trial against general Tihomir Blaškić
Tihomir Blaškic
Tihomir Blaškić is a Bosnian Croat army officer who was sentenced in 2000 to 45 years imprisonment at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for war crimes as part of the Lašva valley ethnic cleansing...
(later convicted of war crimes on Bosnian Muslims), Ivica Mlivončić, tried to defend general Blaškić presenting number of false claims about alleged "genocide against Croats committed by Bosnian Muslims" in the book "Zločin s pečatom" he wrote, which Trial Chambers described as irrelevant for the case. One of the most obvious examples of war propaganda presented in the book was justification and explanation of the Stupni Do massacre
Stupni Do massacre
The Stupni Do massacre was one of the most brutal massacres committed by Croatian forces on Bosniak civilians during the Croat-Bosniak war in the village of Stupni Do in Vareš municipality. It was committed on October 23, 1993 by Croatian Defense Council units called "Apostoli" and "Maturice" led...
committed by the Croats on Bosnian Muslim civilians. Ivica Mlivončić described the village of Stupni Do as a stronghold used by elite Bosnian Army troops with significant amount of artillery against Croatian Defence Council
Croatian Defence Council
The Croatian Defence Council was a military formation of the self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War.-History:...
. However, in the verdict against Dario Kordić
Dario Kordic
Dario Kordić is a former Bosnian Croat politician, military commander of the HVO forces between 1992 and 1994, and vice president of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia...
, ICTY found that Stupni Do was a loosely organised village; with no sign of a military build up, fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
or any sign of artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
. It was loosely protected by six Bosnian soldiers.
After Blaškić's conviction, Ivica Mlivončić continued to write in Slobodna Dalmacija against the ICTY presenting it "as the court against Croats", with chauvinistic claims that the ICTY cannot be unbiassed because "it is financed by Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
(Muslims)".
In 2007 he published a book about alleged Al Qaeda role during the Bosnian war, a favorite subject by Serbian and Croatian propaganda against Bosniaks.
Croatia Libertas, an organization which supports Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia
Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia
The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia was an unrecognised entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina that existed between 1991 and 1994 during the Bosnian war. It was proclaimed on November 18, 1991 under the name Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, and claimed to be a separate or distinct "political,...
restoration and separation from Bosnia and Herzegovina, filed lawsuits against several Bosniak politicians and military leaders solely based on Ivica Mlivončić's book "Muslim Concentration Camps for Croats 1991-1995 in BiH". The lawsuits allege that Bosniak officials committed war crimes against 375 Croats held in detention camps. The listed officials include Bosnian Presidency member Haris Silajdžić
Haris Silajdžic
Haris Silajdžić is a Bosnian politician and academic. In the 2006 elections, Silajdžić was elected as the Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina for four years in the rotating presidency.He was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia.- Political career:From 1990...
, who served as prime minister when the alleged war crimes took place, and current Defence Minister Selmo Cikotić
Selmo Cikotic
Selmo Cikotić is a politician of Bosnia and Herzegovina, member of the Party of Democratic Action, and former Army officer...
.