Valentin Ćorić (born 23 June 1956) is a Bosnian Croat former official in the

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 ...

. He was convicted of war crimes and

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 ...

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) and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Background

Ćorić was born on 23 June 1956 in Paoča, near Čitluk, in PR Bosnia and Herzegovina,

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. He graduated with an engineering degree which he put to use working in the Čitluk,

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

mines. He moved from mining to military when he became the Commander of the training barracks in Krvavice,

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 ...

. In 1992 he was appointed Deputy for Security and Commander of the Military Police 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). In late 1993, he switched Ministries to become the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna.Profile
trial-ch.org; accessed 10 April 2015.Profile
haguejusticeportal.net; accessed 3 August 2015.

Indictment

According to the indictment, Ćorić was, until around April 1994, "a member of a shadowy organization whose goal was to create an ethnically pure territory to be annexed and merged into a

Greater Croatia Greater Croatia () is a term applied to certain currents within Croatian nationalism. In one sense, it refers to the territorial scope of the Croatian people, emphasising the ethnicity of those Croats living outside Croatia. In the political sens ...

". The court accused Ćorić of "inciting political, ethnic and religious hatred while also using force, intimidation and terror, (mostly by mass arrests during which people were killed) to ethnically drive non-Croatians from HVO controlled territory."

Charges

Taken from th
UN press release
*''nine counts of grave breaches of the Geneva conventions (wilful killing; inhuman treatment (sexual assault); unlawful deportation of a civilian; unlawful transfer of a civilian; unlawful confinement of a civilian; inhuman treatment (conditions of confinement); inhuman treatment; extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly).'' *''nine counts of violations of the laws or customs of war (cruel treatment (conditions of confinement); cruel treatment; unlawful labour; wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or destruction not justified by military necessity; destruction or wilful damage done to institutions dedicated to religion or education; plunder of public or private property; unlawful attack on civilians; unlawful infliction of terror on civilians; cruel treatment), and'' *''eight counts of crimes against humanity (persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds; murder; rape; deportation; inhumane acts (forcible transfer); imprisonment; inhumane acts (conditions of confinement); inhumane acts)''. In November 2017, the ICTY convicted him along with five other Herceg-Bosnia officials (

Jadranko Prlić Jadranko Prlić (; born 10 June 1959) is a Bosnian Croat politician who served as Prime Minister of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, an unrecognized entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 1993 to 1996. From 1994 to 1996, he was the F ...

Bruno Stojić Bruno Stojić (born 8 April 1955) is a Bosnian Croat politician convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). His trial, joined with five co-accused Bosnian-Croat politicians active in the Croatian Republic of ...

, Slobodan Praljak,

Milivoj Petković Milivoj Petković (born 11 October 1949) is a Bosnian Croat army officer who is among six defendants convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in relation to the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during ...

and Berislav Pušić) of participating in a

joint criminal enterprise Joint criminal enterprise (JCE) is a legal doctrine that has been used during war crimes tribunals to prosecute individuals in a group for the actions of said group. This doctrine considers each member of an organized group individually respons ...

aimed at ethnically cleansing Bosniaks from Bosnia. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He was granted early release in 2019 after serving two-thirds of his sentence for the time he was in custody.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coric, Valentin 1956 births Living people People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Croatian Defence Council soldiers Politicians of the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted of war crimes Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted of crimes against humanity

Background

Indictment

Charges

See also

References