By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Sarajevo Times
  • HOME
  • POLITICS
    • BH & EU
  • BUSINESS
  • BH TOURISM
  • INTERVIEWS
    • BH & EU
    • BUSINESS
    • ARTS
  • SPORT
  • ARTS
    • CULTURE
    • ENTERTAINMENT
  • W&N
Search
  • ABOUT US
  • IMPRESSUM
  • NEWSLETTER
  • CONTACT
© 2022 Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: General Jovan Divjak dies in Sarajevo at the Age of 84
Share
Aa
Sarajevo Times
Aa
  • HOME
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • BH TOURISM
  • INTERVIEWS
  • SPORT
  • ARTS
  • W&N
Search
  • HOME
  • POLITICS
    • BH & EU
  • BUSINESS
  • BH TOURISM
  • INTERVIEWS
    • BH & EU
    • BUSINESS
    • ARTS
  • SPORT
  • ARTS
    • CULTURE
    • ENTERTAINMENT
  • W&N
Follow US
  • ABOUT US
  • IMPRESSUM
  • NEWSLETTER
  • CONTACT
© 2012 Sarajevo Times. All rights reserved.
Sarajevo Times > Blog > OUR FINDINGS > OTHER NEWS > General Jovan Divjak dies in Sarajevo at the Age of 84
OTHER NEWSOUR FINDINGS

General Jovan Divjak dies in Sarajevo at the Age of 84

April 8, 2021
Share
SHARE

General Jovan Divjak, a former member of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, died in Sarajevo today, at the age of 84.

Divjak was a Bosnian army general who served as the Deputy Commander of the Bosnian army’s main staff until 1994, during the Bosnian War.

Divjak was born in Belgrade to parents originally from the Bosanska Krajina region of Bosnia. His father was stationed in the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) in Serbia. His family, like himself when he was alive, currently reside in Sarajevo, where Divjak moved in 1966. From 1956 to 1959, he attended the Military Academy in Belgrade. In 1964 and 1965, he attended the École d’État Major in Paris. Although Divjak is an ethnic Serb born in Serbia, he identified as a Bosnian.

From 1969 to 1971, Divjak was in the Cadet Academy in Belgrade, and from 1979 to 1981, he served in the War and Defense Planning School there. After several posts in the JNA, he was appointed Territorial Defense Chief in command of the Mostar sector from 1984 to 1989 and the Sarajevo sector from 1989 to 1991.

Between 1991 and 1993, Divjak was court-martialed by the JNA for issuing 120 pieces of light armor and 20,000 bullets to the Kiseljak Territorial Defence and was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment. He avoided the sentence by leaving the JNA and joining the Territorial Defense of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the first days of war, he was arrested under the charge of collaborating with the Serb forces and was imprisoned for 27 days. In prison, Divjak was on a hunger strike for four days.

Divjak later became the Deputy Commander of the Territorial Defense forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a month later he oversaw the defence of Sarajevo from a major JNA attack. Between 1993 and 1997, Divjak served as the Deputy Commander of the Headquarters of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, charged with co-operating with civilian institutions and organisations (administration, economy, health, and education).

Divjak, as an ethnic Serb, was made a general in order to present a multiethnic character of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He himself commented on the issue by saying that he felt like a “flower arrangement” and said that “of course, someone has to be a flower arrangement too”. He expressed that it was shameful if his service to the army were only temporary. Indeed, he and Stjepan Šiber (as a Croat) were the only non-Bosniaks in the Chief of Staff. Both of them were offered retirement in March 1996 by the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alija Izetbegović. 

Divjak has won many international and national awards, including the French Legion of Honour, Order of Lafayette, Sixth of April Award of Sarajevo, the International League of Humanists Plaque, and the Plaque of the Sarajevo Canton.

From 2004 until his death, he was a member of the Steering Board of the NGO Reference Group, Sarajevo. From 1998 until his death, Divjak was a member of the Association of Independent Intellectuals “Krug 99”, Sarajevo. Before 1998, he was an active member of other associations, including sports associations, and the faculty of physical education in Sarajevo, and he has been a member of various NGOs in Bosnia.

Divjak enjoyed popularity among the general public of Sarajevo, and has been dubbed Jovo Divjak, General Jovo and Uncle Jovo. 

In 2006, he was awarded the title of Universal Peace Ambassador by the Worldwide Council of the Universal Ambassador Peace Circle in Geneva.

On 3 March 2011, Divjak was arrested in Vienna in response to a Serbian arrest warrant accusing him of war crimes relating to an attack on a Yugoslav army column in Sarajevo early in the 1992-95 war. However, Austria did not extradite him to Belgrade.[9] On 8 March 2011, he was bailed from custody in Vienna and on 29 July 2011, he was released after Serbia’s extradition request was denied by an Austrian court due to lack of evidence and the inability to guarantee a fair trial in Serbia.

You Might Also Like

34 Million BAM worth Children Hospital to be built in Mostar

The International Coffee Day was marked in Mostar

An unknown Persons destroyed the Flag of the Islamic Community

The main Board of the SDA calls on EUFOR to react in accordance with the prescribed Mandate

Monument to the murdered Citizens of Sarajevo was cleaned

TAGGED: #BiH, #bosnia, #general, #jovandivjak, #war
Y.Z April 8, 2021
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Share
What do you think?
Love0
Sad0
Happy0
Sleepy0
Angry0
Dead0
Wink0
Previous Article The EU Disburses SDR141 Million to the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust
Next Article Mayor of Sarajevo Benjamina Karic: The Time of Prosperity in Sarajevo is coming again, help me with that
Leave a comment Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Stay Connected

10.2k Followers Like
10.1k Followers Follow
414 Followers Follow

Latest News

Economic Miracle: This BiH Municipality will get 70 percent of its Energy from the Sun
October 2, 2023
What was the actual Goal of the Attack in Kosovo? “They had already prepared Trenches, Infrastructure, and Weapons”
October 2, 2023
Can limiting Margins and Price freeze really help Citizens?
October 1, 2023
Presidents without Opponents – Democracy in a BiH Way
October 1, 2023
34 Million BAM worth Children Hospital to be built in Mostar
October 1, 2023
Dodik was re-elected as President of SNSD Party
October 1, 2023
The Attack on the Property of the IC instills additional Fear into the Lives of Returnees
October 1, 2023
The International Coffee Day was marked in Mostar
October 1, 2023
Becirovic: Dodik to forget both the peaceful and violent breaking up of the State of BiH
October 1, 2023
An unknown Persons destroyed the Flag of the Islamic Community
October 1, 2023

You Might also Like

OTHER NEWSOUR FINDINGS

34 Million BAM worth Children Hospital to be built in Mostar

October 1, 2023
OTHER NEWSOUR FINDINGS

The International Coffee Day was marked in Mostar

October 1, 2023
OTHER NEWSOUR FINDINGS

An unknown Persons destroyed the Flag of the Islamic Community

October 1, 2023
POLITICS

The main Board of the SDA calls on EUFOR to react in accordance with the prescribed Mandate

October 1, 2023
Sarajevo Times
Follow US

© 2012 Sarajevo Times. All Rights Reserved.

  • ABOUT US
  • IMPRESSUM
  • NEWSLETTER
  • CONTACT

Removed from reading list

Undo
Go to mobile version
AdBlock Detected
Our site is an advertising supported site. Please whitelist to support our site.
Okay, I'll Whitelist
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?