Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic dies at 81

The former president was acquitted in 2009 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

July 3 () –

Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic has passed away this Sunday at the age of 81, as reported by the Serbian Foreign Minister, Ivica Dacic, on his Instagram account.

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has conveyed his condolences on the death of the former leader, maintaining that he was a “man with devotion, seriousness and great dedication” who “performed some of the most responsible duties in difficult times and historical tests” for the country.

“As a witness and direct participant in the turning points at which the fate and future of Serbia were decided, Milan Milutinovic dignified and consistently defended the interests of the state and the principles of International Law and justice, despite unprecedented pressures. “, has indicated, according to the RTS chain.

Likewise, he has emphasized that the former president defended Serbia in an “honorable and energetic” manner against “unfair” accusations before prosecutors in The Hague, taking into account the interests and well-being of the country. “The people will remember him as a patriot, that he lived for Serbia to return to its rightful place,” Vucic said.

For his part, the President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has sent a message of condolences to Vucic, the Serbian citizens and the family of the deceased: “I was deeply moved by the news of the death of Milan Milutinovic, the former president of Serbia who led and fought for Serbia in the most difficult moments and a great fighter for the truth”, reads the message collected by the Tanjug news agency.

Milutinovic was President of Serbia from December 1997 to December 2002, when he voluntarily surrendered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and where he was accused of war crimes during the conflict against Kosovo.

Despite the fact that the former president was acquitted in 2009, the other five former senior government, military and police officials with whom he shared a trial were sentenced to prison terms of between 15 and 22 years in prison for the murder and deportation of Kosovar Albanians in the first half of 1999.

Milutinovic became President of Serbia in December 1997, replacing Slobodan Milosevic, who had just been appointed president of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). He held office until December 2002, although since 2000, after Milosevic’s overthrow and fall from grace, he was forced to “cohabit” with a government clearly opposed to his former mentor, which earned him the animosity of Milosevic’s supporters. , without reaching a definitive break.

The first leader indicted for the crimes in Kosovo was Milosevic himself, although he only had time to prosecute him between 2002 and 2006 for the crimes committed in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1991 and 1995, before dying “of natural causes on the eve of the end trial and before a verdict was delivered,” according to the court.