Ante Paradžik (10 February 1943 – 21 September 1991) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n right-wing politician and communist-era dissident. Paradžik was one of the founders of the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights (, HSP) is an Extra-parliamentary opposition, extra-parliamentary Croatian nationalism, nationalist and Neo-fascism, neo-fascist List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia. The word "right(s)" i ...

Early life

Paradžik was born in 1943 in

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, ...

. His father disappeared in 1945 as a member of the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

of the

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, ...

. After finishing elementary and high school in Ljubuški, Paradžik enrolled at the Faculty of Law in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, and later continued his law studies at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

. Hailing from a poor family, Paradžik occasionally worked as a manual laborer in the summer. He also volunteered in youth work actions, earning the title of udarnik three times. In 1968 Paradžik was elected into committee of the Union of Students of Croatia () at the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

in Zagreb, and in May 1971 he was elected SSH's president, shortly after joining the League of Communists of Croatia. Paradžik studied social rights and worked ''pro bono'', and he also advocated social justice. For 19 years he was without passport and deprived of human rights, after he participated in

Croatian Spring The Croatian Spring (), or Maspok, was a political conflict that took place from 1967 to 1971 in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, at the time part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As one of six republics comprising Yugoslavi ...

in 1971. After Croatian Spring ended, he was imprisoned, and released after collapse of

Socialist Republic of Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

in 1990.

1990s activity

Paradžik was one of the restorers of

on 25 February 1990.Puškaš, Zvonimir. Hrvatski demokratski nacionalizam (HDN): organizirani otpor jugokomunističkoj tiraniji 1948.-1990. godine, p. 255. Hrvatski forum, 1997. He was also elected vice-president of the party and leader of War Command of Croatian Defence Forces (HOS). Ante Paradžik was very dangerous to the government of

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 ...

as the leader of paramilitary Croatian Defence Forces, opposing every compromise with Serbian representatives in the conflict. He advocated Croatian statehood and independence, uniting what he saw as Croatian historical and ethnic lands:

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 ...

and

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

. At the founding meeting of Croatian Defense Forces, Dobroslav Paraga explained that the Croatian Party of Rights organized armed volunteer detachments whose fighters had already been fighting in the first line of fire in critical areas of Croatia. Paradžik accused the Croatian government of dividing Croatian lands in negotiations with

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

and added that their party (

) would not recognize any partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At a meeting of leaders of Croatian Party of Rights with officials from

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and

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 ...

, they adopted a charter about creation of an anti-hegemony coalition of movements and parties of Albanians, Bulgarians and Croats, with the goal to push Serbia within it's pre-

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

(1912) borders.

Death

Days before Paradžik was assassinated, the Defence Minister of Croatia, Ivan Vekić, told Paraga and Paradžik to instruct Croatian Defence Forces to cease the blockade of the barracks of the Yugoslav People's Army, or face disarmament by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Paradžik was assassinated in front of the building of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Croatia on 21 September 1991. After his assassination,

requested (at a peace conference held in

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 ...

in November 1991) that

disarm Croatian Defence Forces and soon afterwards Tuđman issued a command to disarm the Croatian Defence Forces and to ban the

as well as the Serbian nationalist party Serb Democratic Party. Even though the Croatian Defence Forces had formally been disarmed, they continued to be active in the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

. The last unit was dissolved on 5 April 1993 in central Bosnia. Paradžik was married with three children. His best man was Dražen Budiša, Croatian liberal politician and participant in

. His son, Mislav committed suicide in December 25, 2014.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paradzik, Ante 1943 births 1991 deaths Croatian nationalists People from Ljubuški Croat politicians from Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian Party of Rights politicians Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence Croatian independence activists Assassinated Croatian politicians People murdered in Croatia Croatian murder victims Deaths by firearm in Croatia Assassinated Yugoslav people Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni European politicians assassinated in the 1990s Politicians assassinated in 1991 Croatian Spring participants