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Army officers

Nebojsa Pavkovic, Former Yugoslav Army Commander, Dies at 79

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Nebojsa Pavkovic, a former Yugoslav Army commander, died on Monday in Belgrade, Serbia, after serving a 22-year sentence for war crimes committed during the war in Kosovo in the late 1990s. Pavkovic was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague in 2009 on charges of murder, forced expulsions, and persecution against the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo. The war, which lasted 78 days, resulted in the deaths of nearly 10,000 people and the displacement of an estimated 800,000 Albanians.

Key Takeaways:

  • Nebojsa Pavkovic, a former Yugoslav Army commander, died on Monday in Belgrade, Serbia, at the age of 79, after serving a 22-year sentence for war crimes.
  • Pavkovic was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague in 2009 on charges of murder, forced expulsions, and persecution against the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo.
  • The war, which lasted 78 days, resulted in the deaths of nearly 10,000 people and the displacement of an estimated 800,000 Albanians.
  • Pavkovic's actions were part of the Serbian nationalist policy of driving groups from parts of the formerly multiethnic nation of Yugoslavia, known as "ethnic cleansing."
  • President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia welcomed Pavkovic as a national hero, but the criminal court painted a different picture, describing Pavkovic's actions as creating a climate of terror.
  • Pavkovic began his military career in 1970 with the Yugoslav National Army and was assigned to the Pristina Corps in Pristina, Kosovo, in 1994.
  • He refused to order troops to defend ousted President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, despite being a close ally of Milosevic.

Statistics:

  • Pavkovic served a 22-year sentence for war crimes.
  • The war in Kosovo resulted in the deaths of nearly 10,000 people.
  • An estimated 800,000 Albanians were displaced from Kosovo during the war.
  • The war lasted 78 days.
  • Pavkovic was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague in 2009.
  • The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was established in 1993.

Sources:

  • The New York Times, "Nebojsa Pavkovic, Yugoslav Army Commander Who Served Time for War Crimes, Dies at 79"
  • Reuters, "Serbia's former army commander Pavkovic dies at 79"
  • The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, "Nebojsa Pavkovic"

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