Slobodan "Krcun" Penezić ( sr-cyr, Слободан Пенезић Крцун; 2 July 1918 – 6 November 1964) was a Yugoslav communist politician who served as

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and

Minister of Internal Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

of the

Socialist Republic of Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

. During his heyday, he was the

Secret Police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

chief in Serbia. He was also notable for leading the arrest of

Draža Mihailović Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović ( sr-Cyrl, Драгољуб "Дража" Михаиловић; 27 April 1893 – 17 July 1946) was a Yugoslavs, Yugoslav Serb general during World War II. He was the leader of the Chetniks, Chetnik Detachments ...

and for being awarded the

Order of the People's Hero The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; , ), was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav gallantry medal, the ...

(on 5 July 1952).

Career

Penezić was a member of the

Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia The Central Committee was the highest organ of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY), the ruling party of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, between two congresses, which it was elected by and reported to. An exception to this ...

, a member of the

League of Communists of Serbia The League of Communists of Serbia (, abbr. SKS), known as the Communist Party of Serbia (, abbr. KPS) until 1952, was the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Serbia, political party of Socialist Republic of Serbia, Serbia from 19 ...

Executive Committee and was also chairman of the Executive Council of the Serbian parliament.

Death

On 6 November 1964, Penezić and were killed in a car accident when their car skidded off a wet road into a tree.''The Milwaukee Journal'' (7 November 1964). "2 Yugoslav Officials Killed in Car Crash". Retrieved 4 September 2015. Penezić's death cleared the way for plans by

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

to limit the power of secret police chief

Aleksandar Ranković Aleksandar Ranković (nom de guerre Marko, nicknamed Leka; sr-Cyrl, Александар Ранковић Лека; 28 November 1909 – 19 August 1983) was a Serbian and Yugoslav communist politician, considered to be the third most powerful ...

at a crucial party congress. His wife was among those who doubted the circumstances of his death, but his son considered finding out hard facts nearly impossible.

References

1918 births 1964 deaths Politicians from Užice Yugoslav Partisans members Interior ministers of Serbia Government ministers of Serbia League of Communists of Yugoslavia politicians League of Communists of Serbia politicians Members of the Central Committee of the 5th Congress of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 6th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 7th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Road incident deaths in Yugoslavia Road incident deaths in Serbia Death conspiracy theories Burials at Belgrade New Cemetery Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero Prime ministers of Serbia {{Serbia-politician-stub