Bilateral Plavsic, a former leader of the Bosnian Serbs, has passed away at the age of 96 in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, as reported by Bosnian Serb public media outlets.
Plavsic admitted her guilt at a United Nations tribunal for the crime of persecution against humanity, acknowledging her involvement in the atrocities that occurred during the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995.
During the conflict, she held a prominent position in the Bosnian Serb leadership and was regarded as more progressive compared to her contemporaries, often opposing the wartime president Radovan Karadzic.
Before her political career began amid the disintegration of Yugoslavia, Plavsic was a professor of natural sciences and served as the dean at the University of Sarajevo.
Following the war, she played a significant role in implementing a peace agreement signed in Ohio while presiding over the Bosnian Serb political entity known as Republika Srpska.
However, in 2000, she was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, facing serious charges including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity for her participation in efforts to establish a separate Serbian territory in Bosnia.
Plavsic voluntarily surrendered to the tribunal in 2001 and later pleaded guilty to the charge of persecution as a crime against humanity, with the other charges being dropped.
The UN court noted that Plavsic had ignored reports of widespread ethnic cleansing and had publicly justified such actions, despite being aware that the leadership of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina failed to address these crimes, despite having the authority to do so.
Her guilty plea was seen as a step towards promoting reconciliation in Bosnia and the surrounding region, according to the UN tribunal.
Madeleine Albright, the former US Secretary of State, spoke at her sentencing, highlighting Plavsic’s support for the Dayton peace agreement during challenging times when others sought to undermine it.
She was sentenced to 11 years in prison and was released in 2009 after fulfilling two-thirds of her sentence.
Following her release, Plavsic largely retreated from the public eye and resided in Belgrade.
On Thursday, the public broadcaster RTRS reported that Milorad Dodik, a Bosnian Serb leader, had conveyed his sympathies regarding Plavsic’s passing, describing her as a close associate who warranted full state honors.
Dodik expressed that Plavsic had been unfairly held accountable by the Hague tribunal, adding that this was part of a broader trend of accountability for those in positions of power within Republika Srpska, regardless of their personal actions.
Plavsic’s death follows closely after the passing of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander, who died in custody after being convicted of genocide and other crimes during the Bosnian War.
