Mladen Naletilic

Mladen Naletilic was born on 1st December 1946 in Listica-Siroki Brijeg in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In June 1991, he founded a military group called the 'Disciplinary Battalion” (KB), of which he was the Commanding Officer. In 1992, the KB became a professional unit dedicated to special combat operations under the direct command of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO).

The events occurred between April 1993 and January 1994 during the conflict between the HVO and the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina (ABiH) in Mostar and the neighbouring municipalities of the south-west of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The case particularly concerned the crimes committed against the Bosnian Muslims during the attacks launched by the HVO against the villages of Sovici and Doljani on 17 April 1993, against Mostar on 9 May 1993 and against the village of Rastani on 22 September 1993.

It was alleged that during these attacks, carried out with the cooperation of the Army of the Croatian Republic (HV) and the HVO, steps were taken to expel and forcibly transfer the civilian Muslim population from Bosnia, to arrest Bosnian Muslim men, and to destroy their property as well as the Sovici Mosque. According to the indictment, these orders came from Mladen Naletilic.

Furthermore, between April 1993 and January 1994, Bosnian Muslims, both civilians and prisoners of war, were interned in detention centres, notably that of the Heliodrome, on orders from Mladen Naletilic and Vinko Martinovic. It was alleged that during their detention, the prisoners were continuously subjected to torture by Mladen Naletilic, Vinko Martinovic and their subordinates either to extract information, punish them, make them pay for unfavourable developments of the situation on the front lines or to simply intimidate them. It was also alleged that between May 1993 and at least up until January 1994, the detainees were regularly taken to the front lines where they were used as human shields and forced to carry out various dangerous military support missions for the HV and the HVO.

Mladen Naletilic was arrested in Croatia in 1997 and transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on 21 March 2000.