Dario Kordić
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Dario Kordić was a Bosnian Croat politician and military commander of the HVO forces during 1991-1995. He is currently serving a 25 year sentence for war-crimes commited against the Bosniak muslim population during the Bosniak-Croat conflict.
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[edit] Early Life
Kordić was born on December 14th, 1960 in Sarajevo, Bosnia (then Yugoslavia). He studied political science at the University of Sarajevo and then went into journalism working for the "Vatrostalac" newspaper. Although born in Sarajevo, he lived mostly in Busovača. He has 2 children, a son named Darko and a daughter named Marija.
[edit] 1992-1995
Kordić, like many powerful Croats in Bosnia, was a member of the HDZ-BiH political party. He held very powerful positions during the Bosniak-Croat conflict. Kordić was a key player in the creation of Herzeg-Bosnia during November of 1991, a Croat entity within the boundaries of Bosnia. Appart from being just a politician, he was also a military commander in the Bosnian Croat HVO forces. Kordić had a lot of influence within the Herceg-Bosnia leadership, in which he made political decision and some very important military decisions. He was a key player in the organization and planning of "ethnic-cleansing" against the Bosnian muslims, like it had happened in the Lašva Valley.
[edit] War crimes
In the end, Kordić, like almost all of the Herzeg-Bosnia leadership and military commanders, was accused of war crimes commited on the Bosniak population (but very few Bosniaks were accused of crimes commited on the Croat population, or Serb in general). On October 6th of 1997, he voluntarelly surrendered to the tribunal and on October 8th, pleaded not guilty. He was accused by the Haague for his role in the Lašva Valley massacre, including Ahmici, where HVO forces commited crimes against the local Bosniak population under his command. There were also reports of HVO soldiers under his command to have commited attrocities in and around Zenica but it is unclear. On February 26th of 2001, Kordić was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In June of 2006, he was transfered to a prison in Austria to serve the remainder of his sentence there.
[edit] Legacy
While Kordić is unheard of in western media, many Croats still consider him a war-time hero, especially Croats in and from central Bosnia. During the war, he looked out and helped the Croats in central Bosnia the most (in areas like Busovača and Zenica). A lot of Croats feel that his sentence was harsh because they look at him as someone who only protected the Croat population from the Bosniak Army and the Jihadist Mujahedins.
