Dragoljub Ojdanić ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб Ојданић; 1 June 1941 – 6 September 2020) was a Serbian General of the army who served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia and Minister of Defence of Yugoslavia. Ojdanić commanded the Uzice corps during the Bosnian War and was tried and convicted of the deportation and forcible transfer of Kosovo Albanians during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

by the

ICTY The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribun ...

Education and career

In 1958, Ojdanić studied at the Yugoslav Military Academy and graduated in 1964. He was deputy commander of the 37th Corps, with command in Užice. He was promoted to Major General on 20 April 1992 and he became the commander of Užice korpus. Under his command, the Užice Corps was deployed in military operations in eastern Bosnia during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He served as Chief of the General Staff First Army of FRY in 1993 and 1994. From 1994 to 1996, he was commander of the First Army. In 1996 he became deputy commander Chief of the General Staff. In 1998

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

placed Ojdanić as a Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army. He was also a Chief of General Staff during

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's Operation Allied Force. In February 2000 after the death of defence minister

Pavle Bulatović Pavle Bulatović (; 13 December 1948 – 7 February 2000) was a Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslav Montenegrin politician. Bulatović served as Interior Minister of Montenegro from 1990 to 1992, then as Federal Minister of Interior of FR Yugoslavia ...

, he was made defence minister of Yugoslavia.

ICTY trial and sentence

On 25 April 2002, Ojdanić was transferred by the Yugoslav government to the

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

(ICTY) in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. Ojdanić was allowed to attend Milošević's funeral in March 2006. On 26 February 2009, the ICTY sentenced Ojdanić to 15 years in prison, following a conviction for deportation and forcible transfers of Kosovo Albanians. On 27 May 2009, Ojdanić's case was appealed. Ojdanić's co-counsel on appeal was Peter Robinson of the United States. In January 2013, Ojdanić, publicly admitted his participation in war crimes against Kosovo Albanians and withdrew the appeal against his conviction. On 29 August 2013, Ojdanić was granted early release and afterwards lived in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

.Dragoljub Ojdanić granted early release
icty.org; accessed 25 December 2015

References

External links

Presuda Haškog suda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ojdanic, Dragoljub 1941 births 2020 deaths Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia People extradited from Serbia Military personnel from Užice Serbian generals Serbian people convicted of crimes against humanity