SETimes.comLast Yugoslav defence minister gains Russian citizenship
30/09/2008
Former Yugoslav Defence Minister Veljko Kadijevic has gained Russian citizenship and is unlikely to face extradition to Croatia, where three separate indictments for his alleged involvement in war crimes during the early phase of the 1991-1995 conflict await him.
(AFP, B92, RIA Novosti, Javno - 29/09/08)
Veljko Kadijevic, the last defence minister of the former Yugoslavia, whom Croatian authorities have pursued for alleged involvement in war crimes, has acquired Russian citizenship, a Moscow-based news agency reported on Monday (September 29th).
"I can confirm that General Kadijevic obtained Russian nationality," an anonymous source told RIA Novosti.
A document posted on the Kremlin's website lists the retired general, born in 1925 in Croatia, among 14 people who obtained Russian citizenship by presidential decree on August 13th.
Under Russia's laws, Kadijevic, who obtained refugee status in 2005, had to live in the country for three years to be eligible.
Croatian authorities hold the former minister, who headed the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) at the outset of the 1991-1995 war in Croatia, responsible for alleged involvement in atrocities committed by forces under his command in the early phase of the conflict.
Kadijevic faces three separate indictments in Croatia. The first one, issued by judicial authorities in the central town of Bjelovar in 1992, charged him with war crimes in the region. Prosecutors in the eastern towns of Vukovar and Osijek indicted him in 2003 and 2006, respectively.
Vukovar is linked to one of the bloodiest episodes in Croatia's struggle for independence from Yugoslavia. More than 1,000 civilians died and thousands more fled their homes during the three-month siege and bombardment of the town by Serb forces.
Others indicted by Croatian prosecutors for Vukovar war crimes included former JNA officers Veselin Sljivancanin and Miroslav Radic, rebel Serb leader Mile Mrksic and Vojislav Seselj, the leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has already charged those four with war crimes.
Goran Hadzic, one of the UN tribunal's two remaining war crimes fugitives, was also among the ten included in the Croatian authorities' 2003 indictment.
Kadijevic's latest indictment came about in May 2006, when the court in Osijek charged him and the ethnic Croatian commander of the Yugoslav Air Force, Zvonimir Jurjevic in the deaths of at least 30 people killed by indiscriminate shelling in eastern Croatia.
It issued an arrest warrant for the two officers, both living outside Croatia.
The Croatian government issued an international arrest warrant for Kadijevic in March 2007. A few days later, Interpol also included him on its list of wanted criminals.
After it became clear that Kadijevic was living in Russia, the Croatian government requested his extradition. Russian authorities said they were studying the request.
The prospects of Kadijevic ever facing prosecution in Croatia appear slim now that he is a Russian citizen. Russia's constitution prohibits the extradition of its nationals.