Blaž Kraljević

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Blaž Kraljević
September 17, 1947 - August 9, 1992 (aged 44)
Image:Blaz kraljevic.jpg
General of the HOS (Hrvatske obrambene snage) or Croatian Defence Forces
Nickname Ero[1]
Place of birth Listica in the municipality of Ljubuški, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Place of death Kruševo, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Years of service 1991 - 1992
Commands held - Croatian Defence Forces

Blaž Kraljević (September 17, 1947 - August 9, 1992) was a Bosnian Croat paramilitary leader during the first few months of the Bosnian War who commanded the Croatian Defence Forces (HOS) [2]. President Izetbegović appointed him to be a member of Bosnian Army's Headquarters, seven days before his assassination.[3]

Contents

[edit] Background

Blaž Kraljević was one of eight children born to a Croat family in the village of Listica in the municipality of Ljubuški, Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the age of 19 Kraljević immigrated to Germany and shortly thereafter to Australia where he remained until 1990. Upon his return to Herzegovina he became the leader of the Croatian Party of Rights and in December of 1991 he became the leader of the HOS.

[edit] War

Proclamation by Blaž Kraljević against the devision of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Franjo Tuđman and Slobodan Milošević
Proclamation by Blaž Kraljević against the devision of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Franjo Tuđman and Slobodan Milošević

When the war began Kraljevic began to position his group as the main Croat militia in Bosnia. Unlike the other Croat militia, the Hrvatsko Vijeće Obrane-Croatian Defence Council (HVO), he opposed the division of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the creation of an ethnically cleansed Greater Croatia, instead he wanted to federate Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croatia. On May 9, 1992 he issued a proclamation to the Bosniak and Croat citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina which stated the following;

  • We implore all citizens of BiH, especially Croats and Bosniaks not to take into account any statements or agreements between Mate Boban and Radovan Karadžić.
  • Not one nor the other speak in the name of Croats and Bosniaks. They do not represent what the Croats and Bosniaks want.
  • There will be no division of BiH, we can and we will preserve BiH for all of us; we won't leave our people on the grinder. Either we will all die or we will all be free. We are not ready for treason. Radovan Karadzic is the murderer of Croat and Bosniak people's and Mate Boban cannot and doesn't have the right to lead the Croats and Bosniaks of BH into ruin.
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina is defended and will be defended by the HOS and TO BiH (Territorial Defence Forces of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina). Bosnia and Herzegovina is in ruins, the people are displaced but the victory is ours. We invite all HVO units to come under our command. Under the command of the HOS and with the cooperation of the TO BiH we will free Bosnia and Herzegovina for the benefit of all people's. We will throw the people with the dark pasts and suspicious present out of the defensive units of BH. We will send them home, but keep an eye on them, we are talking about our destiny. We have a chance, but just one.

After many early successes a large number of HVO soldiers defected and joined the HOS[4]. In the summer of 1992 his militia successfully defended Stolac, and launched an offensive into eastern Herzegovina which seized parts of the municipality of Trebinje. Much of the Serb population of Trebinje and Bileća had begun to pack up run. This went against the Graz agreement‎ that Serbia and Croatia made regarding the division of the country.

[edit] Death

On August 9, 1992 after a meeting at Široki Brijeg he left on his way back to his home in Ljubuški. When the motorcade passed the village of Kruševo south of Mostar a group of as many as 20 gunmen opened fire on his motorcade. Kraljević was killed along with Gordan Čuljak, Šahdo Delić, Ivan Granić, Rasim Krasniqi, Osman Maksić, Mario Medić, Vinko Primorac and Marko Stjepanović. During Naletilić-Martinović trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Prosecutors implied that Kraljević was murdered by Mate Boban's HVO because HOS believed in a, "... multi-ethnic Bosnia of the Croats and Muslims working together[5]." Until that point the HOS was composed Croats and a large percentage of Bosniaks around Mostar[4]. After Kraljević's assassination the HOS dissolved.[4].

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^
    		Blaž Kraljević "Ero"
  2. ^ IT-98-34-T, the Prosecutor versus Mladen Naletilic and Vinko Martinovic (HTML). UN (1 Wednesday, 4 September 2002). Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
  3. ^ Vjesnik: Je li Tuta platio atentatorima po pet tisuća maraka[1]
  4. ^ a b c Pg 85 - From Ottawa to Sarajevo: Canadian Peacekeepers in the Balkans (PDF). Centre for International Relations, Queen's University Kingston, Ontario Canada (1998). Retrieved on 2007-09-25.ISBN 0889117888
  5. ^ IT-98-34-T, the Prosecutor versus Naletilic and Martinovic (HTML). ICTY (Wednesday, 17 July 2002). Retrieved on 2007-09-25. “Q. Well, sir, during the time that you lived in Mostar, during these years, and in that region, did you ever -- did you understand that HOS was
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    a unit that -- an organisation that believed more in a multi-ethnic Bosnia of the Croats and Muslims working together? ... wasn't it because of the HDZ's conflict with that philosophy, that Mr. Kraljevic was ultimately murdered?”
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