Mladen Naletilić (1 December 1946 – 17 December 2021) was a

Bosnian Croat The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats (), are native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and constitute the third most populous ethnic group, after Bosniaks and Serbs. They are also one of ...

paramilitary commander of the "Convicts' Battalion" (

Croatian language Croatian (; ) is the standard language, standardised Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language mainly used by Croats. It is the national official language and literary standard of Croatia, o ...

“Kažnjenička Bojna” of the

Croatian Defence Council The Croatian Defence Council (, HVO) was the armed wing of the self-proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, a breakaway entity unrecognised by the international community and accused of ethnic-based violence during the conflict. It exis ...

(HVO) convicted for war crimes by the

ICTY The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribun ...

Biography

Naletilić was born in

Široki Brijeg Široki Brijeg () is a city and the regional capital of West Herzegovina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. the town itself had a population of 6,149 and the municipality of 28,929. Name ...

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 ...

. In his youth, Naletilić went to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

under Yugoslavian program of temporary work abroad with the "United Croats of Germany", a Croat emigration agency. He ran a casino in

Singen Singen (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Singe'') is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border. Location Singen is an industrial city situated in the far sout ...

, and, according to

Miroslav Tuđman Miroslav Tuđman (; 25 May 1946 – 31 January 2021) was a Croatian scientist and politician, the son and eldest child of the first President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, and his wife Ankica. Biography Tuđman was born in Belgrade, where he comp ...

, Naletilić was also a

pimp Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...

. He cooperated with ''

Bundesnachrichtendienst The Federal Intelligence Service (, ; BND) is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinate to the Federal Chancellery of Germany, Chancellor's Office. The Headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Service, BND headquarters is ...

'', a German intelligence agency, and the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n Committee for State Security. In 1990 he returned to Croatia and in 1991 he founded a volunteer unit and named it "Convicts' Battalion" (). In 1992 when

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 ...

started, "Convicts' Battalion" was replaced in

(former Lištica) and they operated in

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

. Members of the unit included foreign volunteers such as Germans, the British, the French, Swedes, Paraguayans and Argentines. As part of the

("Convicts' Battalion"), he fought against

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

(JNA) and

Army of Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska (; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska, the self-proclaimed Serb secessionist republic, a territory within the newly independent Bosnia and Herz ...

(VRS). He was his unit's commander, under general Ivan Andabak. He was a close friend of then-Croatian Minister of Defence

Gojko Šušak Gojko Šušak (; 16 March 1945 – 3 May 1998) was a Croatian politician who held the post of Ministry of Defence (Croatia), Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1998 under President Franjo Tuđman. From 1990 to 1991 he was the Minister of Emigration ...

. On 2 August 1992, Naletilić ordered his unit to assassinate

Blaž Kraljević Blaž Nikola Kraljević (19 September 1947 – 9 August 1992) was a Bosnian Croat paramilitary leader who commanded the Croatian Defence Forces (HOS) during the Bosnian War. An immigrant to Australia, Kraljević joined the Croatian Revolution ...

, general of the

Croatian Defence Forces The Croatian Defence Forces ( or HOS) were the paramilitary arm of the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) from 1991 to 1992, during the first stages of the Yugoslav wars. During the Croatian War of Independence, the HOS organised several early compa ...

and general of the

Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine, Оружане снаге Босне и Херцеговине or OSBiH) is the official military force of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Th ...

(ARBiH), along with eight of Kraljević's staff. Naletilić rewarded twenty of the men in the unit with 5,000

Deutschmarks The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was typically ca ...

each. Kraljević had opposed attempts by Croatian president

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...

and his

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ) party, as well as

Mate Boban Mate Boban (; 12 February 1940 – 7 July 1997) was a Bosnian Croat politician and one of the founders of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, an unrecognized entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was the first president of Herzeg-Bosnia ...

and

Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal ...

to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1993 Jusuf Prazina joined Naletilić's unit. He was one of the organizers of the defence of Sarajevo and also a criminal. When the Croat-Bosniak War broke out in 1992, "Convicts' Battalion" fought against ARBiH in Jablanica, Doljani and Vakuf. On 17 April 1993, his unit attacked the village of Sovići and conducted forcible transfer of Bosniaks. On 9 May 1993, members of the "Convicts' Battalion" were involved in the siege of eastern

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

. In November 1993, Naletilić was in personal conflict with general Slobodan Praljak of the HVO and thus reportedly forced to leave his post as Chief of Staff of the HVO. In 1994, Naletilić opposed the truce between Croats and Bosniaks and also opposed the abolition of

Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia The Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia () was an unrecognized geopolitical entity and quasi-state in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was proclaimed on 18 November 1991 under the name Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bos ...

, an unrecognized entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, bitterly accusing

and Franjo Tuđman of treason. After the war ended, he left the army. In 1997, he was arrested and convicted of the murder of Robert Nosić, a military policeman and member of

from

Ljubuški Ljubuški is a city in the West Herzegovina Canton, a federal unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Kravica (waterfall), Kravica cascades lie within the city, near the settlement of Studenci, ...

. Naletilić spent two years in

Remetinec prison Remetinec prison (officially ''Prison in Zagreb'', ) is a closed-type prison located in the Remetinec neighborhood of Zagreb, Croatia. The prison's capacity is 560 inmates, making it the largest prison in Croatia. In July 2012 it housed 904 pris ...

. Due to health problems he was transferred to

University Hospital Centre Zagreb The University Hospital Centre (sometimes also Clinical Hospital Centre, ) in Zagreb, Croatia, is the largest hospital in Croatia and the teaching hospital of the University of Zagreb. It serves most of Central and Northern Croatia for specialist a ...

on 14 November 1999. In March 2000, Naletilić was extradited to the

the Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, and convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes during the Croat-Bosniak War. On 24 April 2008, he was transferred to serve his sentence in Italy. Credit was given for time served since 18 October 1999. Early release was granted on 29 November 2012 and Naletilić was released from prison on 18 February 2013. He died on 17 December 2021, at the age of 75.Преминуо ратни злочинац Младен Налетилић Тута

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naletilic Tuta, Mladen 1946 births 2021 deaths People extradited from Croatia Croatian Defence Council soldiers People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia People from Široki Brijeg Croatian people convicted of war crimes Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted of crimes against humanity Croatian nationalists