Duško Tadić
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Duško Tadić (born 1 October 1955) is a former politician who was found guilty by the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...
(ICTY) of persecution, murder, beatings and other violence, and forced transfer, as well as his participation in the attack on the town of Kozarac near
Prijedor Prijedor ( sr-cyrl, Приједор, ) is a city in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it had a population of 80,916 inhabitants within its administrative limits. Prijedor is situated in the northwestern part of the Bosanska ...
,
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, during the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
constituting
crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...
and violations of the laws and customs of war. He was the first person to be found guilty by the ICTY. He was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.


Early life and work

Duško Tadić was born on 1 October 1955 and grew up in the town of Kozarac within the
Prijedor Prijedor ( sr-cyrl, Приједор, ) is a city in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it had a population of 80,916 inhabitants within its administrative limits. Prijedor is situated in the northwestern part of the Bosanska ...
municipality, living mainly in the family home on Marshal Tito Street in the centre of the town. Of Bosnian Serb ethnicity, Duško's father was a decorated
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
veteran and was well respected in the town. During World War II Duško's mother had been interned in the infamous
Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in occupied Yugoslavia durin ...
run by the
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
and
Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...
ultranationalist and Ustasa-led
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...
an
Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...
puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...
. Duško and his three brothers were all experts in
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
. In 1979 Duško unofficially married Mira Tadić from the neighboring village of Vidovići. The couple had two daughters. Their marriage was made official at some point after April 1981. In 1997, while they had been officially divorced for some years, apparently because Mira being officially single assisted her to gain employment outside Yugoslavia, they still considered themselves married. Around the end of 1990 or the beginning of 1991, Duško Tadić opened the Nipon cafe, which was attached to the family home. Initially the cafe was popular with both Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Muslim residents of the town and surrounding area. Some ninety per cent of the residents of Kozarac itself were Bosnian Muslim, and the majority of Tadić's friends were Bosnian Muslims. Despite these associations, Tadić was in support of the idea of
Greater Serbia The term Greater Serbia or Great Serbia () describes the Serbian nationalist and irredentist ideology of the creation of a Serb state which would incorporate all regions of traditional significance to Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group, inclu ...
, and as his nationalism grew, greater numbers of nationalist Serbs from Kozarac and the surrounding area began to frequent the cafe.


Trial

Tadić was arrested by German police in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
in February 1994. He faced twelve counts of crimes against humanity, twelve counts of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, and ten counts of violations of the customs of war, to all of which he pleaded not guilty. His trial was to be held together with Goran Borovnica's, but Borovnica went missing in 1995 and was later declared dead. On May 7, 1997, the Trial Chamber II found Tadić guilty on 9 counts and partially guilty on 2 counts. Tadić and the prosecution appealed on a number of grounds. One of the arguments required the court to determine whether or not the court was legitimate in its exercise of jurisdiction. Tadić argued that the court was illegitimately created through the United Nations Security Council. His argument was based upon separation of powers. He essentially argued that the Security Council was an executive governmental branch and thus did not have the power to create a judicial body. To resolve this argument, the court was forced to determine whether it was legitimately formed through the United Nations Security Council. The court's analysis began by determining if this was an issue of jurisdiction. It explained that this may not be a jurisdiction issue when jurisdiction is given a narrow definition. It then noted that a narrow definition of jurisdiction is not warranted in the international context. Thus it determined that Tadić's argument was one of jurisdiction. Next, the court went on to determine whether it had the power to evaluate its own jurisdiction. In coming to a conclusion, the court explained that a tribunal, in the international context, must assert its own jurisdiction within the bounds of the council that forms it. Consequently, it determined that it doesn't have the power to determine the validity of its establishment by the security council. A significant issue at trial was the use of protective measures for several witnesses, such as anonymity (including keeping their names from the defence), submission of evidence from a room separate from the courtroom, and the distortion of the voices and images.Prosecutor v Tadić (Decision on the Prosecutor's Motion Requesting Protective Measures for Victims and Witnesses) ICTY-94-1 (10 August 1995) The majority of the Trial Chamber allowed this motion on the basis that the Tribunal had a duty 'to protect witnesses who are genuinely frightened'. However, Judge Stephen dissented, arguing that it was unreasonable to ask the defence to cross-examine a witness who amounted to a 'disembodied and distorted voice transmitted by electronic means.' Another notable incident during the trial was the breach by the defence of the anonymity order with relation to Witness L, who revealed on cross-examination that he had lied about the death of his father and had been trained to give evidence at the Tribunal by the Bosnian government. Upon Tadić's appeal of the ruling, he was found guilty of several more charges. In 2000, the ICTY found Tadić's lawyer, Milan Vujin, guilty of contempt of court. According to Tadić, Vujin was more interested in defending the interests of Serbia than of defending the interest of his client. This ruling had no outcome on the sentencing of Tadić. After serving his sentence until September 2000 in the Hague, he was transferred to a prison in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, Germany. He was granted early release from prison on 17 July 2008 and is living in Serbia.


Footnotes


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tadic, Dusko 1955 births Living people People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia People from Prijedor Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted of war crimes Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted of crimes against humanity Bosnia and Herzegovina people imprisoned abroad Foreign nationals imprisoned in Germany People extradited from Germany