Former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic has committed suicide in his prison cell in The Hague, the UN war crimes tribunal has said.
Babic, 50, was serving a 13-year prison term for crimes against humanity, after admitting persecuting the non-Serb population in Croatia's Krajina region.
He was a key ally of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic but later testified against him at the tribunal.
He was found dead on Sunday evening, the tribunal said in a statement.
BABIC: RISE AND FALL
1990 : Mayor of Knin
May 1991 - Feb 1992 : President of Krajina (first an "autonomous region" then a "republic") later foreign minister and prime minister
1995 : Flees with other Serbs as Croatian army takes Krajina
2002 : Testifies against Slobodan Milosevic
2003 : Surrenders to tribunal
2004 : Pleads guilty to persecuting non-Serbs, sentenced to 13 years
2005 : Loses appeal against sentence
2006 : Commits suicide
"The Dutch authorities were called immediately. After conducting an investigation, they confirmed that the cause of death was suicide," the statement said.
It did not say how Babic had killed himself.
A spokeswoman for the tribunal, Alexandra Milenov, told the BBC that, like all detainees, Mr Babic was subject to regular monitoring.
"He was checked at six o'clock and everything was found to be all right and at six-thirty when he was checked again his body was found."
A tribunal judge has opened an inquiry.
Retribution fear
Babic feared retribution for testifying against Slobodan Milosevic in 2002, and had been had been serving his sentence at a secret location, at his own request.
There was nothing unusual in his demeanor
Tribunal spokeswoman, Alexandra Milenov
He was brought back to The Hague last month to testify in the trial of Milan Martic, his successor as Croatian Serb leader.
Babic was president of the self-declared breakaway Krajina Serb republic, covering about one-third of Croatian territory, after Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
He was jailed in 2004 for crimes committed during Croatia's 1991-1995 war.
In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped four other charges of murder, cruelty and the wanton destruction of villages.
Last year, judges rejected an appeal against his lengthy sentence.
Pain
A dentist by profession, Mr Babic had expressed shame and remorse over his actions in Krajina.
He reportedly reaffirmed this in February saying his guilt was a "pain that I have to live with for the rest of my life".
However, tribunal spokeswoman Alexandra Milenov said he had given no indication that he was contemplating suicide.
"There was nothing unusual in his demeanor," she said.
It is the second time a detainee in The Hague has committed suicide. The first was Slavko Dokmanovic, another Croatian Serb leader, in 1998.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
All you need is a "two finger" forehead to realize that Babic was killed by the "promise" of a more lenient sentence if he testified against Milosevic and he got nothing from the circus in The Hague,the only escape from his lies and concience was to kill himself.
"Bad pays the devil those who well serve him"
This is the ultimate proof that Serbs do hava a coscience.
"Right... and you know that because you've personally met every single Serbian in the world, right? Spare me your racist bullshit."
This coming from a guy calling Albanians for "Siptari"...
Riiiight...
Tosi
Sweden
hahaha Mir is sad boys... please leave him alone on these hard times for him and the rest of chetnic nation.
I don't know why Serbs tend to elect their leaders from mentally disturbed families. Did Milosevic's father commit suicide or was it someone else close to him? Can't remember.
What I find very funny and ironic is how Serbs can be named MIR... instead of RAT (like in war not "rat").
This is altogether TOO CONVENIENT for Milosevic and his co-conspirators.
Babic "committed suicide" just as he was expected to testify against Milosevic. The court still hasn't figured out what story to pump out to hush up a murder.
(By all accounts, Babic was a monster - but if so, Milosevic is a far bigger monster.)
What is the deal with the court's spokeswoman, Alexandra Milenov? Inquisitive minds want to know.
"This is the ultimate proof that Serbs do hava a coscience."
Shhh before they hear about that and claim it was the gift that Jesus gave to the serbs as he walked thru the holy land of Greater Serbia.
how did he kill himself?
is it possible he was murdered?
There is an old saying "The truth makes you free" looks like this wasen't the case for Mr.Babic.
People that use insults to make a point show nothing but a peanut brain not able to figure out which 2 goes first while writing 22 and subsequently their comments can't reach even the concept of idea.
Haha, i reckon. Man, so much anger. BTW, being a university student myself, i can say that there are plenty of Serbs at US universities, dont you worry about that. Anyway, as me and B. Parduzi have been discussing on another page (http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2006/03/kosovo-serb-body-expels-member-for.html)
we should be here to discuss, peacefully, what we should do. To the Anti-Serb poster, all i have to say is that with that attitute, you wont get anywhere. Thats all to you. As for the others, like B. Parduzi and other great people i have talked to here (another example of a PEACEFUL discussion between an Albanian and a Serb : http://www.blogger.com/publish-comment.do?blogID=8736921&postID=114133729889928512&r=ok
So, to all of you anti-peace like the one above attacking Mir, relax, and start to think about what you are saying
Post a Comment