Mladen Naletilić Tuta (December 1, 1946) was Croatian military commander of "Convicts' Battalion" of Croatian Defence Council and war criminal.
Naletilić was born in Široki Brijeg in Herzegovina region in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a youngster he went to West Germany and joined to Croatian emigation organization "United Croats of Germany".[1] He run a casino in Singen and he was also a pimp.[2] He cooperated with Bundesnachrichtendienst, German intelligence agency and Bulgarian Committee for State Security.[3] Naletilić was also agent of Yugoslav Department of State Security.[4] In 1990 he returned to Croatia and in 1991 he founded volunteer unit and named it "Convicts' Battalion" (Croatian: Kažnjenička bojna).[5] In 1992 when Bosnian War started, "Convicts' Battalion" was replaced in Široki Brijeg and they operated in Herzegovina. Members of the unit weren't only Croats but foreign volunteers also, including Germans, British, French, Paraguayans and Argentinians,[6] some members were on Interpol's wanted list.
As a unit of Croatian Defence Council (shorten HVO), "Convicts' Battalion" fought against Yugoslav People's Army and Army of Republika Srpska. Naletilić was unit's commander subordinated to general Ivan Andabak.[7] He was also close friend to Croatian Minister of Defence Gojko Šušak. On August 2, 1992 Naletilić gave an order to his unit to execute general of the Croatian Defence Forces and general of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina Blaž Kraljević. Assassination was succesfoul and Naletilić awarded 20 atentators with 5,000 Deutschmarks each.[8]
In beginning of 1993 Jusuf Prazina also joined Naletilić's unit. He was one of the organizers of the defence of Sarajevo and also a criminal. When Croat-Bosniak War brake out in 1992, "Convicts' Battalion" fought against Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Jablanica, Doljani and Vakuf. On April 17, 1993 Naletilić's unit attacked village Sovići and conducted forcible transfer of Bosniaks. On May 9, 1993 members of "Convicts' Battalion" were involved in siege of eastern part of Mostar, they intensively shelled the city and pervented humanitarian aid.
In November 1993 Naletilić was in conflict with general of HVO, Slobodan Praljak, who was later forced to leave the post of Chief of Staff of HVO because of that.[9] In 1994 Naletilić was against the truce between Croats and Bosniaks and he was also against Washington Agreement and abolition of Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, an unrecognized entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He accused Gojko Šušak and Croatian President Franjo Tuđman for national treason.[9]
After war ended, Naletilić left the army. In 1997 he was arrested and convinced because of murder of Robert Nosić, military policeman and member of Croatian Defence Forces from Ljubuški.[2] He spent two years in Remetinec prison. Because of health problems he was transferred to cardiovascular division of University Hospital Centre Zagreb on November 14, 1999. In March 2000 Naletilić was extradited to ICTY and was convicted to 20 years of prison because of war crimes against Bosniak civilians in Herzegovina during Croat-Bosniak War.