Vladimir Lazarevic

Army General, Vladimir Lazarevic was born in the town of Gricar on 23 March 1949. In 1972, Vladimir Lazarevic obtained the Diploma of the Military Academy of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (JNA), which was to be the start of a brilliant military career.

In 1998, he became Chief of Staff of the Pristina Corps and was appointed Commander of this corps by presidential decree on 25 December 1998. By 6 January 1999, Vladimir Lazarevic had already taken up the position as Commander of the Pristina Corps. He therefore commanded this corps both before and during the state of war, which was declared on 24 March 1999. On 28 December 1999, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the 3rd Army, and subsequently it’s Commander on 13 March 2000.

The original indictment alleged that Vladimir Lazarevic as well as Vlastimir Djordjevic Nebojsa Pavkovic and Sreten Lukic (see “Related Cases”), planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in preparing the alleged crimes. According to the indictment Lazarevic was part of a joint criminal enterprise which had the aim, in addition to other objectives, to expel a major part of the Kosovo Albanian civilians from the province in which they were living in order to maintain this province under Serb control. This joint criminal enterprise reportedly was already in existence by October 1998 and continued until 20 June 1999.

According to the indictment, armed forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and of Serbia, in a deliberate and widespread or systematic manner, forcibly expelled and internally displaced hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians from their homes across the entire province of Kosovo. In order to facilitate these expulsions and deportations, forces of the FRY and Serbia were said to have deliberately created a climate of fear and oppression by the use of force or by threatening to do so or by engaging in violent acts. Throughout Kosovo, according to the indictment, FRY and Serbian forces were alleged to have undertaken a widespread or systematic campaign of destruction of property belonging to Kosovo Albanian civilians. These coordinated actions made the towns, villages and entire regions uninhabitable for the Kosovo Albanians. Numerous Kosovo Albanians who had not been directly expelled by force from their community were said to have fled due to the climate of terror which had been created in the region by the widespread and systematic campaign of physical aggression, harassment, sexual violence, illegal arrest, murder, bombing and pillaging.

According to the terms of the FRY laws on defence, Vladimir Lazarevic in his role as Commander of the Pristina Corps of the 3rd Army of the VJ, had effective authority and control, by way of the combined structures and mechanisms of command and coordination, over the units of the Republican Police which reported to the Pristina Corps of the 3rd Army of the VJ or which were in action in cooperation or coordination with the latter , as well as over Territorial Army units , Civil Defence units, members of the Serb Interior Ministry and other armed groups.

Vladimir Lazarevic was arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on 3 February 2005.