Nebojša Pavković

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Nebojša Pavković
Pavković in 2014
Born (1946-04-10) 10 April 1946 (age 77)
Senjski Rudnik, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
AllegianceSFR Yugoslavia (1970–1992)
FR Yugoslavia (1992–2002)
Service/branchYugoslav People's Army (1970–1992)
Yugoslav Army (1992–2002)
Years of service1970–2002
RankColonel general
Battles/warsKosovo War (1998–99)
Insurgency in the Preševo Valley (1999–2001)
AwardsOrder of Freedom

Nebojša Pavković (Serbian Cyrillic: Небојша Павковић; born 10 April 1946) is a retired Serbian army general who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia from February 2000 to June 2002. He also served as the Commandeer of Third Army of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War, from December 1998 to February 2000.

In 2009, he was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Kosovo War.

Education and military career[edit]

Pavković was born in the village of Senjski Rudnik (Despotovac municipality) on 10 April 1946. He finished teacher training college in Aleksinac in 1966, and was conscripted into the Yugoslav People's Army (Serbo-Croatian: Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija, JNA) on 20 July 1970. Pavković graduated from the Military Academy in Belgrade in 1970, finished junior officers' school in 1982 and senior officers' school in 1988. He served as a battalion commander within the 10th Infantry Brigade and later headed the 16th Proletarian Infantry Regiment. From 1988 to 1989, he was the commander of the 16th Motorized Brigade. Between 1988 and 1993, he held several posts in the Federal Secretariat for National Defence.[1]

When the conflict in Kosovo began, Pavković was the commander of the Third Army. He was promoted in rank Major General in 1996, Lieutenant General in 1998, Colonel General in 1999.[citation needed] For success as commander leadership he received numerous medals and awards, Slobodan Milošević awarded him the Medal of Freedom for commanding the Third Army during NATO's Operation Allied Force. After 5 October 2000, Pavković remained at his position as Chief of the General Staff until 24 June 2002, when he was removed from his position by the President of FR Yugoslavia Vojislav Koštunica.

ICTY trial and sentence[edit]

On 25 April 2005, Pavković was surrendered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague where he was charged with committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during the Kosovo War. [2][3] On 26 February 2009, the ICTY convicted Pavković of the charges and sentenced him to 22 years in prison.[4] His sentence was upheld in January 2014.[5]

He has been serving his sentence in Finland since 2014.[5]

Publications[edit]

He published two books, which covered events which led to the Kosovo War and military events during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia on the Kosovo battlefield. The published books are:[6]

  • The smell of gunpowder and death in Kosovo and Metohija in 1998 (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирис барута и смрти на Косову и Метохији 1998.) (2015)
  • 78 days of Third Army in the embrace of Merciful Angel (Serbian Cyrillic: Трећа армија 78 дана у загрљају Милосрдног анђела) (2018)

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ B92 & 10 September 2002.
  2. ^ politizovana, vlada militarizovana Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Podaci o predmetu Pavkovic i drugi (IT-03-70) Archived 18 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Kosovo trial clears Serbia leader". BBC News. 26 February 2009. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Hag: Nebojša Pavković služiće kaznu u Finskoj". blic.rs (in Serbian). Tanjug. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  6. ^ Dragović, R. (26 October 2018). "Haradinaj može da piše, srpskim generalima brane". novosti.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 27 October 2018.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Military offices
Preceded by Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia
7 February 2000 – 24 June 2002
Succeeded by