Vujadin Popović (14 March 1957, Popovići,

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

) is a Bosnian Serb war criminal, who participated in the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina and was convicted of

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

, extermination,

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

and

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

and sentenced to life in prison. He was Lieutenant Colonel and the Chief of Security of the Drina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska. In 1995, he was present and on duty in the Drina Corps zone of responsibility, which included Srebrenica, Potocari, Bratunac and Zvornik. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia indicted Vujadin Popović for genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecutions, forcible transfer, and deportation. These crimes allegedly took place between July and November 1995. On 26 March 2002, 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 ...

issued an indictment against him for his role in the Srebrenica Massacre. After a while he decided to surrender and he was transferred to

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 ...

on 14 April 2005. Four days later, he appeared in the chamber and pleaded "not guilty". On 10 June 2010, the Trial Chamber brought a verdict that he was present with the Bosnian Serb forces in Potočari on 12 July and was aware of the large number of men among the thousands of Bosnian Muslims gathered at Potočari on that day. The Trial Chamber was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Popović was fully engaged in the organisation of the killing operation being carried out in the

Zvornik Zvornik ( sr-cyrl, Зворник, ) is a city in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2013, it had a population of 58,856 inhabitants. Zvornik is located on the Drina River, on the eastern slopes of Majevica mountain, at the altitude of ...

area. The Trial Chamber found that Popović was a member of the Joint criminal enterprise (JCE) to murder the Bosnian Muslim males of Srebrenica, and that he participated in that JCE with persecutory intent. He was convicted of

, extermination,

and

and sentenced to life in prison. On 8 September 2010 the defence and the prosecution filed their notices of appeal. The Appeals Chamber granted the defence request to vary the order of arguments in the appeal brief. On 30 January 2015 he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2020, his request for early release was denied.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popovic, Vujadin 1957 births Army of Republika Srpska soldiers Bosnia and Herzegovina people imprisoned abroad Bosnia and Herzegovina prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Living people Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted of genocide People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Prisoners and detainees of Denmark Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by international courts and tribunals

See also

References