Pavle Strugar ( sr-Cyrl, Павле Стругар; 13 July 1933 – 12 December 2018) was a Montenegrin general in the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

(JNA) who was found guilty of war crimes for his role in the

siege of Dubrovnik The siege of Dubrovnik ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, opsada Dubrovnika, опсада Дубровника) was a military engagement fought between the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Croatian forces defending the city of Dubrovnik and its surroundings dur ...

Biography

Strugar was born in

Peć Peja (Definiteness, Indefinite Albanian language, Albanian Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest List of cities and towns in Kosovo, city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipali ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

. In October 1991, he was made commander of the JNA's Second Operational Group which operated in southern

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. In this role, he commanded the JNA's forces which laid siege to Dubrovnik, including its historic Old Town. The siege lasted until May 1992. Strugar retired in 1993. In 2001, the

International 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 that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

(ICTY) charged Strugar on several counts. These included violations of the customs of war and attacks on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

heritage site of the Old Town. Strugar voluntarily surrendered to the court, becoming the first Serbian or Montenegrin citizen to do so. He was found guilty of attacks on civilians as well as being responsible for damage to the Old Town. Strugar initially appealed his sentence, but later withdrew the appeal citing poor health. In exchange, the court withdrew appeals of its own against Strugar. He was sentenced to eight years in jail. On 17 July 2008, his sentence was reduced to seven and one half years imprisonment on compassionate grounds due to his deteriorating health. On 16 January 2009, the ICTY granted Strugar early release. He died in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

on 12 December 2018 at the age of 85.www.24sata.hr
"Umro dubrovački krvnik Pavle Strugar: On je granatirao Grad", objavljeno 13. prosinca 2018., pristupljeno 14. prosinca 2018.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strugar, Pavle 1933 births 2018 deaths Military personnel from Peja Montenegrin soldiers Serbian soldiers Generals of the Yugoslav People's Army People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Montenegrin people convicted of war crimes Montenegrin generals Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence