34 Facts About Slobodan Praljak

Slobodan Praljak voluntarily joined the newly formed Croatian Armed Forces after the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence in 1991.

Slobodan Praljak was indicted by, and voluntarily surrendered to, the ICTY in 2004.

Slobodan Praljak was born on 2 January 1945 in Capljina, Independent State of Croatia.

Slobodan Praljak attended high school in Siroki Brijeg with the future Croatian Defence Minister Gojko Susak.

In 1972, Slobodan Praljak graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art.

At first, Slobodan Praljak worked as a professor and manager of the electronics laboratory at the Nikola Tesla Vocational High School in Zagreb, then lectured on philosophy and sociology, and after 1973 was a freelance artist.

Slobodan Praljak was a theatre director in theatres in Zagreb, Osijek and Mostar.

Slobodan Praljak directed the television series Blesan i Tulipan, television dramas Novela od Stanca and Sargasko more, documentaries Smrt psa, Sandzak and Duhan, and film Povratak Katarine Kozul.

Slobodan Praljak drew public attention in September 1991 when he voluntarily joined the newly formed Croatian Armed Forces after the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence.

Slobodan Praljak formed a unit composed of the Zagreb artists and intellectuals with whom he held positions in Sunja.

Slobodan Praljak was the High Representative of the Ministry of Defence, and since 13 May 1993, representative of the Ministry of Defence in the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatian Defence Council.

Slobodan Praljak petitioned Alija Izetbegovic to unblock Sarajevo but his propositions were rejected.

From 24 July to 8 November 1993, Slobodan Praljak was the Chief of Staff of the Croatian Defence Council.

Slobodan Praljak allowed the UNHCR's humanitarian convoy through to Mostar, which had been stopped in Citluk.

Slobodan Praljak was accused of ordering the destruction of Mostar's Old Bridge in November 1993, an act which ICTY ruled had "caused disproportionate damage to the Muslim civilian population".

Slobodan Praljak said that the bridge was demolished by activation of the explosive charge set on the left bank of the Neretva, where the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina was located.

Slobodan Praljak retired from military service at his own request on 1 December 1995.

In 1995, Slobodan Praljak co-founded a company with his brother Zoran called Oktavijan.

Slobodan Praljak was a co-owner of Liberan, a company that has a share in Ljubuski Tobacco Factory, and owned other shares in few other companies.

Slobodan Praljak was among six accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in relation to the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia.

On 29 May 2013, the Trial Chamber judgement sentenced him to 20 years of imprisonment, and on 28 June 2013, Slobodan Praljak filed an appeal.

Slobodan Praljak was acquitted of some charges related to the destruction of the Old Bridge.

Slobodan Praljak's body was cremated in Zagreb in a private ceremony.

Slobodan Praljak, like Goring, just managed to thwart the due process of law at its climax.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stated that Slobodan Praljak's suicide illustrated the "deep moral injustice towards the six Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian people".

All the party caucuses of the Croatian Parliament except the Social Democratic Party and Civic Liberal Alliance issued a joint statement declaring that ICTY's verdict did not respect the "historical truths, facts and evidence", and that it was "unjust and unacceptable", adding that Slobodan Praljak symbolically warned of all the verdicts' injustice with his suicide.

Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic expressed her condolences to Slobodan Praljak's family, calling him "a man who preferred to die rather than live as a convict for crimes he did not commit".

The Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bakir Izetbegovic, said that Slobodan Praljak was led to suicide by the joint criminal enterprise, while the Croat member and Chairman Dragan Covic stated that Slobodan Praljak had sacrificed his life to prove his innocence.

On 11 December 2017, a commemoration for Slobodan Praljak was held in Zagreb.

The cyanide that Slobodan Praljak took was not listed as a prohibited substance under Dutch law.

Witnesses were interviewed, video materials watched, rooms in which Slobodan Praljak stayed were checked and numerous materials inspected.

The report added that video surveillance recordings did not show if Slobodan Praljak carried the vial of poison with him or if it was handed to him.

Slobodan Praljak married Kacusa Babic, the former wife of his close friend and poet Goran Babic.

The couple had no children, but Slobodan Praljak was close to his stepchildren, Natasa and Nikola, the latter adding the last name Slobodan Praljak to his birth name.