Biljana Plavšić
Prof. Dr. Biljana Plavšić | |
---|---|
Биљана Плавшић | |
Serb Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
In office 20 December 1990 – 9 April 1992 Serving with Nikola Koljević | |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Nenad Kecmanović |
Personal details | |
Born | Tuzla, Kingdom of Yugoslavia | 7 July 1930
Political party | Serb National Alliance (1997–2006) Serb Democratic Party (1990–1997) |
Alma mater | University of Zagreb |
Nickname(s) | Serb Iron Lady Serb Empress (by Željko Ražnatović Arkan) |
Biljana Plavšić (Serbian Cyrillic: Биљана Плавшић; born 7 July 1930) is a Bosnian Serb former politician, university professor and scientist who served as President of Republika Srpska and was later convicted of crimes against humanity for her role in the Bosnian War.
Plavšić was indicted in 2001 by the
She was released on 27 October 2009 after serving two-thirds of her sentence. Plavšić is, together with
Academic career
Plavšić was a university professor teaching biology at the
Political career
Plavšić was a member of the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Biljana_Plavsic_%286938761997%29.jpg/220px-Biljana_Plavsic_%286938761997%29.jpg)
Plavšić declared that "six million Serbs can die so that the remaining six million can live in freedom" and considered the
The Serbs in Bosnia, particularly in the border areas, have developed a keen ability to sense danger to the whole nation and have developed a defense mechanism. In my family they used to say that the Serbs in Bosnia were much better than Serbs in Serbia [...] and remember, the defense mechanism was not created through a short period of time; it take decades, centuries [...] I am a biologist and I know: most capable of adapting and surviving are those species that live close to other species from whom they are endangered.
In 1994, Plavšić stated that she and other Serbian nationalists were unable to negotiate with Bosniaks due to genetics:[8]
It was genetically deformed material that embraced Islam. And now, of course, with each successive generation it simply becomes concentrated. It gets worse and worse. It simply expresses itself and dictates their style of thinking, which is rooted in their genes. And through the centuries, the genes degraded further.
This statement by Plavšić, which equated a specific ethnic group with a disease or illness, has been compared to how the
The Dayton Agreement, signed in 1995, banned the then President of Republika Srpska Radovan Karadžić from office and Plavšić was chosen to run as the SDS candidate for President of the Republika Srpska for a two-year mandate.
Vojislav Šešelj, at the Milošević trial, described Karadžić's motives for nominating her.
She held very extremist positions during the war, insufferably extremist, even for me, and they bothered even me as a declared Serb nationalist. She brought Arkan and his Serb Volunteer Guard to Bijeljina, and she continued to visit him after their activities in Bijeljina and the surrounding area [...] Radovan Karadzic [...] believed her to be more extreme than himself in every way. He thought that the Western protagonists who tried eliminate him at any cost would have an even greater problem with her [...] Radovan Karadzic believed that she would continue to occupy her patriotic positions until the end. However, several months after she was elected, Biljana Plavsic changed her political orientation by 180 degrees under the influence of some Western protagonists and changed her policies completely.[10]
ICTY indictment and sentence
She was indicted by the
- Two counts of genocide (Article 4 of the Statute of the Tribunal – genocide; and/or, complicity to commit genocide)
- Five counts of crimes against humanity (Article 5 thereof – extermination; murder; persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds; deportation; alternatively, inhumane acts)
- One count of violations of the laws or customs of war (Article 3 thereof – murder)
She voluntarily surrendered to the ICTY on 10 January 2001, and was provisionally released on 6 September.
On 16 December 2002, she plea bargained with the ICTY to enter a guilty plea to one count of
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Biljana_Plav%C5%A1i%C4%87_%28cropped%29.jpg/150px-Biljana_Plav%C5%A1i%C4%87_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In an interview she gave in March 2005 to the Banja Luka Alternativna Television, however, she admitted she had pleaded guilty because she could not prove her innocence, as she was unable to find witnesses who would testify on her behalf.[14][15] She repeated this in an interview for Swedish Vi magazine in January 2009.[16] She claimed to have pleaded guilty in order to avoid the remaining charges against her, including genocide.[16] Her pleading guilty led the Hague tribunal to lower her sentence and drop the remaining charges.[16] Plavšić would have likely have been sentenced to 20–25 years in prison if she had not pleaded guilty and all eight charges would have been taken into account.[16]
She was sentenced to 11 years in prison. She served her sentence at the women's prison
On 14 September 2009,
Awards and decorations
Award or decoration | Country | |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Order of the Republika Srpska | ![]() |
Medal For Bravery Miloš Obilić | ![]() |
See also
References
- ^ Political Handbook of the World 1998
- ^ Traynor, Ian (27 October 2009). "Leading Bosnian Serb war criminal released from Swedish prison". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ "Radovan Karadzic found guilty of genocide, sentenced to 40 years | CNN". CNN. 24 March 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023.
- ^ "Плавшићева стигла у Београд". RTS. 27 October 2009.
- ^ "Biljana Plavsic: Serbian iron lady". BBC News. 27 February 2003.
- ISBN 978-0-521-53854-1.
- ISBN 978-0-415-92963-9.
- ISBN 978-0-7735-2413-2.
- ISBN 978-0-7735-2413-2.
- ^ "Vojislav Seselj Testimony". International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 30 August 2005.
- ISBN 978-0-19-929131-1.
- ^ Hoare, Marko Attila. "Bosnian Serbs and Anti-Bosnian Serbs". Bosnian Institute. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
- ^ "Prosecutor v. Biljana Plavšić judgement" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
- ^ "Zatvorski dani B.Plavšić". B92. 12 March 2005.
- ^ "Ne znam šta je s Mladićem, on ne bi nikada radio protiv Srba". Glas javnosti. 13 March 2005.
- ^ a b c d Goldberg, Daniel Uggelberg (4 February 2009). "Plavsic retracts war-crimes confession". Bosnian Institute. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
- ^ a b "Sweden rejects Bosnian war crime pardon request". Agence France-Presse. TheLocal.se. 4 December 2008. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
- ^ "Ex-Bosnian Leader May Be Freed Soon". New York Times. Agence France-Presse. 16 September 2009.
- ^ "Bosnian Serb 'Iron Lady' released". BBC News. 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 29 October 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
- ^ Barlovac, Bojana (28 October 2009). "Dodik Says Had Moral Reasons to Welcome Plavsic". Balkan Insight.
- ^ "Dodik speaks about welcoming Plavšić". B92. 28 October 2009. Archived from the original on 3 January 2010.
- ^ "Dodik will give Plavsic office in the Senate?". Dalje. 10 November 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012.
- ^ "CNN.com - Plavsic: The Iron Lady who turned - January 10, 2001". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
Further reading
- Combs, Nancy Amoury (2003). "International Decisions: Prosecutor v. Plavšić. Case No. IT-00-39&40/1-S". American Journal of International Law: 929–937. S2CID 229168651.
- Skrzeszewska, Monika (2017). "Rola Biljany Plavšić w pierwszych latach istnienia Republiki Serbskiej w Bośni i Hercegowinie (BiH)(1992–1998)". Balcanica Posnaniensia Acta et Studia (in Polish). 23: 119–134. .
- Subotić, Jelena (2012). "The cruelty of false remorse: Biljana Plavšić at The Hague". Southeastern Europe. 36 (1): 39–59. .
- Chifflet, Pascale, and Gideon Boas. "Sentencing Coherence in International Criminal Law: The Cases of Biljana Plavšić and Miroslav Bralo." Criminal Law Forum. Springer Netherlands, 2012.
- Trifkovic, S. "Interview with Mrs Biljana Plavsic, former President of Republika Srpska." SOUTH SLAV JOURNAL 19 (1998): 69-72.
- Hubrecht, J. "The trial of Serbian vice-president Biljana Plavsic for war crime-International justice triumphs." ESPRIT 2 (2003): 138-142.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Simons, Marlise (28 March 2003). "Bosnian Ex-Leader Sentenced To 11 Years for Her War Role (article preview)". The New York Times.[permanent dead link]
- "Biljana Plavsic: Serbian iron lady". BBC News. 27 February 2003.
- FitzPatrick, Patrick (5 June 2000). "It Isn't Easy Being Biljana". Central Europe Review.
- ICTY's page on Plavšić case
- Article in Serbian in Glas Javnosti
- BBC Profile On Biljana Plavšić Archived 23 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Article and video in Swedish on Sveriges Television's website.