Fikret Abdić
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| Fikret Abdić | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 29, 1939 Donja Vidovska, Velika Kladuša, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Fikret Abdić (born September 29, 1939) is a Bosnian politician and businessman, mainly known for his role in the Bosnian War and his opposition to the government of Alija Izetbegović in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He founded the short-lived Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, which existed between 1993 and 1995, where he allied with Army of Republika Srpska against Izetbegović's government. [1][2]
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[edit] Biography
Before the war, Abdić was the director of Agrokomerc, a company from Velika Kladuša that he raised from an agricultural cooperative into a modern food combine, which employed over 13,000 workers, and which boosted the well-being of the entire area[1]. His fellow citizens gave him nickname "Babo" (Daddy). He ruled the company in an "imperial" style, with strong political backing from influential politician Hamdija Pozderac and his brother Hakija[3]
In the late 1987, just before Hamdija Pozderac was about to take over 1-year Presidency of Yugoslavia, a scandal broke up, where Abdić was imprisoned because of alleged financial malversations, and Hamdija Pozderac resigned. The scandal shook not only the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the whole of Yugoslavia as well.[3] Another of his controversial moves was erecting a monument to a Bosnian başbölükbaşı from the Ottoman Army Mujo Hrnjica on a hill above Velika Kladuša.[4]
After his release from prison, he joined the Party of Democratic Action just 24 hours before the 1990 elections were scheduled [5] and ran for the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under the erstwhile constitution, voters elected seven members to the presidency; two Bosniaks, two Serbs, two Croats and one Yugoslav. Abdić and his future rival Alija Izetbegović ran for the two Bosniak positions, and were both elected. Once the positions were filled, the members of the presidency elected a President of the Presidency who acted as its head. Although Abdić won more popular votes than Izetbegović, Abdić did not assume office for reasons which remain unclear.[4]
[edit] Bosnian War
According to NIN, When the Bosnian War broke out, Abdić briefly appeared in the Sarajevo in spring 1992, trying to took over the presidentship when Izetbegović was arrested by Yugoslav People's Army. However, he was preempted as Izetbegović had already named Ejup Ganić for that position.[4]
A few months later, Abdić decided to return to Bihać and lead the people there. Abdić, together with his 20,000 of his supporters, opposed the Izetbegović's government and formed the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, a move which the government characterized as treason[1]. He made peace deals with Serb (October 22, 1993) and Croat leaders (14 September 1993) in order to stay out of the conflict. In a later interview to OBN, he tried to justify the move as an attempt to "save the Muslim nation."[1] The "province", however, was widely regarded as Abdić's personal fiefdom.[6]
When the government 5th Corps of Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, based in the south part of the Bihać pocket in Western Bosnia[7] tried to end the existence of APWB, Abdić raised an army which was supplied, trained, financed by (and fought alongside) the Bosnian Serbs against the government forces. [1] The Serbs took advantage of the inter-Bosniak war which reduced the number of Anti-Serb Bosniaks in western Bosnia, and strengthened their and Abdić's positions. In August of 1995, an ARBiH offensive ended the Republic of Western Bosnia forcing him to flee to Croatia. By this time, Abdić had obtained Croatian citizenship and his contributions to the national army against the RSK was appreciated.
Lord Owen, the British diplomat and co-author of the Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans, described Abdić as "forthright, confident and different from the Sarajevan Muslims. He was in favor of negotiating and compromising with Croats and Serbs to achieve a settlement, and scathing about those Muslims who wanted to block any such settlement."[8]
[edit] After war
After the war he was granted political asylum by the Croatian President Franjo Tuđman and lived near the coastal city of Rijeka. The government of Bosnia-Herzegovina charged him with the deaths of 121 civilians, three POWs and the wounding of 400 civilians in the Bihać region. Croatia refused to extradite Abdić, though did themselves put him on trial.[6] In 2002 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes committed in the area of the "Bihać pocket”.[9] In 2005 the Croatian Supreme Court reduced the reduced to 15 years.[10]
He ran for the position of Bosniak member of the Bosnian presidency in 2002 on the Democratic People's Community party ticket in 2002 and won 4.1% of the vote. Bosnian law does not bar him from running for office since his conviction is in Croatia.[citation needed]
[edit] External links
- Svetlana Vasovic-Mekina (August 17, 1996). On the Brink of Capital Punishment (Interview with Abdic). Vreme News Digest Agency No. 254.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Emir Habul (2001-08-07). A Man who Divided the People of Krajina. AIM press, Sarajevo.
- ^ Decision on admissibility: Case no. CH/00/4371, Ismet Gracanin vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- ^ a b Kenneth W. Banta (1987-09-28). Yugoslavia All the Party Chief's Men. TIME magazine.
- ^ a b c Miloševićevi ljudi (Serbian). NIN (2000-01-13).
- ^ Biography, moljac.hr website (compiled from multiple sources) (Croatian).
- ^ a b Gabriel Partos (2001-07-20). Warlord on trial in Croatia. BBC.
- ^ Luke Zahner (2002-02-28). Bosnia: Abdic Turns Spotlight on Bihac. IWPR.
- ^ Balkan Odyssey
- ^ Concerns Pertaining to the Judiciary. Human Rights Watch (2004-10).
- ^ Background Report: Domestic War Crime Trials 2005 (page 23). OSCE mission in Croatia (2006-09-13).
