Mile Mrkšić
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Mile Mrkšić (Миле Мркшић) (born July 20, 1947 near Vrginmost, Yugoslavia, now Croatia) is a former Serbian colonel of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). He was in charge of the JNA army unit which attacked and subsequently occupied the town of Vukovar during the Battle of Vukovar in 1991. He convicted for his role in the mass killing of 264 Croats that followed the fall of Vukovar, and sentenced to 20 years.
After the battle of Vukovar, he was promoted to General in the JNA and later Commander in Chief of the Army of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK) in May 1995. After the defeat of the Army of the RSK by Croatian forces in August 1995, he retired from military service.
Mrkšić was indicted in 1995, along with Miroslav Radić, Veselin Šljivančanin and Slavko Dokmanović (Who later committed suicide), by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He voluntarily surrendered to the ICTY on 15 May 2002 and was transferred to the ICTY the same day. The trial against him commenced in October 2005 and ended proceedings in 2007, where he was convicted.
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[edit] Charges
- Five charges of crimes against humanity: article 5 of the ICTY Statute (persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds; extermination; murder; torture; inhumane acts)
- three charges of violations of laws or customs of war: article 3 of the ICTY Statute (murder; torture; inhumane acts).
On September 27, 2007 the Trial Chamber found Mrkšić guilty of aiding and abetting the murder of civilians and prisoners of war at Ovčara, aiding and abetting their torture, and aiding and abetting the cruel treatment given there.[1] He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.[1]
[edit] See also
- Battle of Vukovar
- Vukovar massacre
- Croatian War of Independence
- International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- ICTY Case Sheet
- ICTY Amended Indictment
- BBC News Profile on The 'Vukovar Three', BBC News, 9 March, 2004