Bobetko, Janko

▪ 2004

      Croatian army chief (b. Jan. 10, 1919, Crnac, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes [now in Croatia]—d. April 29, 2003, Zagreb, Croatia), was regarded as a hero of Croatia's independence, but in 2002 he was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). During World War II, Bobetko rose to prominence with Josip Broz Tito's Partisan forces, which became part of Yugoslavia's army after the war. He became a general in 1954 and was made chief of staff in 1967. Bobetko was among those advocating greater autonomy for Croatia until Tito cracked down on the movement in 1972 and dismissed all of its supporters. In 1992 Bobetko assumed command of the new Croatian Defense Forces, which he led into battle in 1993 to retake Croatian territory that had been conquered by Serbian forces. In September 2002 the ICTY ordered him to stand trial in The Hague for having engaged in “ethnic cleansing” during the 1993 fighting. Bobetko refused, and in February 2003 the tribunal's medical team ruled that he was too ill to withstand a courtroom trial.

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