Former Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army (VJ), Nebojša Pavković, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison by the Hague Tribunal for war crimes in Kosovo, died today in Belgrade at the age of 79, media reported. Pavković had been serving his prison sentence in Finland but was released early on September 28 at the request of the Serbian government due to his serious health condition.
He held numerous positions in the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA), and from 1994 he was assigned to the Pristina Corps of the VJ in Kosovo, which he commanded from 1998.
An indictment was filed against him and other generals by the Hague Tribunal in late 2003, and in 2005 he was extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Pavković was found guilty on all counts in 2009 and sentenced to 22 years in prison for deportations, forcible transfers, murders, persecutions and other inhumane acts. Vladimir Lazarević, Nikola Šainović, Dragoljub Ojdanić and Sreten Lukić were also convicted.
The first defendant, Slobodan Milošević, died in custody and Milan Milutinović was acquitted.
