Mitja Ribičič (19 May 1919 – 28 November 2013) was a Slovene Communist official and Yugoslav politician. He was the only Slovenian

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

(1969–1971).

Life and career

He was born in a Slovene-speaking family in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. His father was the Slovene author Josip Ribičič (born in town Baška, Isle of Krk, Croatia). His mother, Roza Ribičič, née Arrigler or Arigler, was a teacher in Slovene schools in Trieste, and an editor and public figure. She was the niece of the poet Anton Medved. In 1925 the family moved to

Rakek Rakek (; it, Recchio"Primorske novice: Jezikovne perverznosti." 1923. ''Slovenec'' 51 (108) (15 May): 3.Versari, Quinto. 1968. ''Sulle sponde del Cerniski''. Milan: Gastaldi, p. 16.) is a settlement in the Municipality of Cerknica in the Inner Ca ...

, Slovenia, then part of the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(Yugoslavia), where Ribičič attended elementary school. In 1929 they settled in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

. In 1938 Ribičič enrolled in the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

, where he studied law. In his student years, he became a member of several left wing youth organizations, and associations of Slovene emigrants from the

Julian March Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...

. In April 1941, when Yugoslavia was invaded by the Nazis, he volunteered for the

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the land warfare military service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally Kingdom of Serbs, ...

. After the Yugoslav defeat in late April, he joined the

Liberation Front of the Slovenian People The Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation ( sl, Osvobodilna fronta slovenskega naroda), or simply Liberation Front (''Osvobodilna fronta'', OF), originally called the Anti-Imperialist Front (''Protiimperialistična fronta'', PIF), was a Slovene ...

. In October 1941 he became a member of the

Yugoslav Communist Party The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...

's (KPJ) Slovenian branch. In May 1942 he joined the Partisan resistance. He fought in various units parts of Slovenia that had been annexed by Germany, first in

Lower Styria Styria ( sl, Štajerska), also Slovenian Styria (''Slovenska Štajerska'') or Lower Styria (''Spodnja Štajerska''; german: Untersteiermark), is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy o ...

, then in

Upper Carniola Upper Carniola ( sl, Gorenjska; it, Alta Carniola; german: Oberkrain) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jeseni ...

, and in southern Carinthia. In November 1944 he was sent to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

for training. After his return in early 1945, he served as a high-ranking official of the OZNA, the Yugoslav military intelligence, and then in the

UDBA The State Security Service ( hr, Služba državne sigurnosti, sr, Служба државне безбедности; mk, Служба за државна безбедност; sl, Služba državne varnosti), also known by its original name ...

, the secret police. He was in charge of political repression of the anti-communist opposition in Slovenia. Between 1951 and 1952 he served as chief prosecutor for the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, and then until 1957 as the Secretary of the Interior of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. Between 1957 and 1963 he was a member of the Slovenian government, and then a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia. In 1966 he rose to the leadership of the

, serving first as a member of the Executive Central Committee of the Party, and then as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Yugoslav Federal Executive Council. Between 1974 and 1982 he was president of the Socialist Union of the Working People of Slovenia, the official platform that included all professional and voluntary associations in Slovenia. Between 1982 and 1983, he became president of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, and was one of its members until 1986, when he retired. He died on 28 November 2013 at the age of 94 in Ljubljana and is buried in the family grave in Žale cemetery in Ljubljana. His son, Ciril is a left wing politician (member of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

) and lawyer, as of 2013 a member of the Slovenian

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

Accusations of human rights violations

Several victims of Communist political persecution accused him of brutal treatment during the time when he was an official with the secret police, including Angela Vode and

Ljubo Sirc Ljubo Sirc CBE (19 April 1920 – 1 December 2016) was a British- Slovene economist and prominent dissident from Yugoslavia. Life and work Sirc was born in Kranj, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, in a wealthy and reno ...

. In 1970, when Ribičič visited

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

as the head of the Yugoslav Government, Sirc, a British citizen, launched a public protest, disclosing the mistreatment suffered at the hands of Ribičič in 1946. In May 2005, the

Slovenian Police The Slovenian National Police Force is the national government agency that handles the responsibility of law enforcement of the Republic of Slovenia. It is composed of the eight police directorates in Celje, Koper, Kranj, Ljubljana, Maribor, Mu ...

filed an indictment against Ribičič for genocide. The evidence, involving the actions of the

Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska ar ...

against prisoners of war and civilians in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, was investigated by the Slovenian Supreme State Prosecutor's Office first for

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

and later for war crime against civilians. Pursuant to this, a proposal to open a case was brought forward to the District Court in Ljubljana in April 2006, but the court rejected it due to the principle of non-retroactivity in criminal law and lack of evidence. This decision was then appealed by the Prosecutor's Office to the High Court, which also dismissed it as lacking direct evidence, without providing the precise reasoning, but found the basic principles of humanity to be above the prohibition of retroactivity in such a setting. The historian Jože Dežman, head of the Slovenian commission investigating concealed mass graves, criticised the rejection as "extremely indecent". Another

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of a ...

, based on the presumed newly discovered evidence, was lodged against Ribičič at the Slovenian Prosecutor's Office due to suspected genocide and war crime by the freelance journalist and investigator of post-war killings in October 2013, but the Prosecutor's Office dismissed it in December 2013 due to Ribičič's death.

References

Sources

Primorski slovenski bibliografski leksikon: 'Mitja Ribičič'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ribicic, Mitja 1919 births 2013 deaths Politicians from Ljubljana People indicted for war crimes Yugoslav people of World War II Yugoslav Partisans members Slovenian atheists Slovenian people of Croatian descent Presidents of the Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Slovenia politicians Ethnic Slovene people University of Ljubljana alumni Officers of the Yugoslav People's Army Burials at Žale War crimes in Slovenia