Vladimir Kovačević (military officer)

Vladimir Kovačević (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимир Ковачевић; born 15 January 1961), also known as Rambo (Serbian Cyrillic: Рамбо),[1] is a Montenegrin Serb military officer who was charged with the violation of the laws of war by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for his actions in the siege of Dubrovnik during the Croatian War of Independence.

Vladimir Kovačević
Native name
Владимир Ковачевић
Nickname(s)"Rambo"
Born (1961-01-15) 15 January 1961
Nikšić, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(modern Montenegro)
Allegiance Yugoslavia
Service/branchYugoslav People's Army Yugoslav People's Army
RankCaptain (JNA)
UnitThird Battalion of the 472 Motorised Brigade
Battles/wars

Kovačević faced six counts of violations of the laws of war all related to the bombing of the UNESCO Heritage Site of Dubrovnik by the Third Battalion of the JNA 472 (Trebinje) Motorised Brigade, of which he was in command.[2]

His case was originally to be processed along with Pavle Strugar, a higher-ranking commander of the operation,[3] but the trial was split up on 26 November 2003.[2]

On 31 January 2005, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) sentenced Strugar to eight years in prison for his role in the 1991 shelling of Dubrovnik.[4][5] In 2004 Kovačević was ruled unfit for trial due to mental health problems.[6]

On 30 July 2007, the Serbian Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor announced the indictment of former Yugoslavia Army Captain Vladimir Kovačević for war crimes associated with the 1991 Siege of Dubrovnik.[7][8][9]

Latest developments

On 28 October 2004, the Prosecutor requested that the case against Kovačević be referred to Serbia and Montenegro pursuant to Rule 11bis. On 12 April 2006, the Trial Chamber issued a decision holding that the accused "does not have the capacity to enter a plea and to stand trial, without prejudice to any future criminal proceedings against him should his mental condition change."

A referral hearing was held on 15 September 2006 and on 17 November 2006 the Referral Bench ordered that the case against Kovačević be referred to Serbia. On 1 December 2006, the Defence for Kovačević filed a notice of appeal against the decision on the referral.

On 28 March 2007, the Appeals Chamber dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decision to refer the case to the Republic of Serbia. Kovačević was charged by the Republic of Serbia, but a decision was later rendered finding him unfit to stand trial due to reported poor health.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Sud u Beogradu odbacio optužnicu protiv Ramba". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  2. "Case Information Sheet: "Dubrovnik" (IT-01-42/2) Vladimir Kovačević" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
  3. "The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Pavle Strugar Vladimir Kovacevic: Second Amended Indictment" (PDF). International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
  4. "Judgement in the Case the Prosecutor V. Pavle Strugar". International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Archived from the original on 5 August 2009.
  5. Hall, Liza (31 January 2005). "Yugoslav general sentenced for Dubrovnik siege". JURIST.
  6. "Kovačević mentalno oboleo i biće upućen na lečenje". B92.net (in Serbian). Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  7. "TУЖИЛАШТВО ПОДИГЛО ОПТУЖНИЦУ ПРОТИВ ВЛАДИМИРА КОВАЧЕВИЋА "РАМБА" ЗА ГРАНАТИРАЊЕ ДУБРОВНИКА" [Indictments issued against Vladimir Kovačević in the shelling of Dubrovnik] (PDF) (Press release) (in Serbian). Serbian Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor. 30 July 2007.
  8. Sung, Michael (30 July 2007). "Former Serbia army officer indicted for 1991 Dubrovnik shelling". JURIST.
  9. "Serbia's war crimes prosecutor charges ex-army officer in 1991 shelling of Dubrovnik". Kyiv Post. Associated Press. 30 July 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  10. Kovačević case profile Archived May 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, icty.irg; accessed 11 February 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.