Mladen Naletilić Tuta

Mladen Naletilić (1 December 1946 – 17 December 2021) was a Bosnian Croat paramilitary commander of the "Convicts' Battalion" of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) convicted for war crimes by the ICTY.

Mladen Naletilić Tuta
Personal details
Born	1 December 1946 Široki Brijeg, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia
Died	17 December 2021 Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Resting place	Široki Brijeg, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nickname	Tuta
Military service
Allegiance	Croatian National Guard Croatian Defence Council
Years of service	1991–1995
Rank	Commander
Unit	Convicts' Battalion
Battles/wars	Bosnian War Operation Jackal Croat-Bosniak War Siege of Mostar Operation Tvigi 94

Biography

Naletilić was born in Široki Brijeg in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In his youth, Naletilić went to West Germany under Yugoslavian program of temporary work abroad with the "United Croats of Germany", a Croat emigration agency.^[1] He ran a casino in Singen, and, according to Miroslav Tuđman, Naletilić was also a pimp.^[2]

He cooperated with Bundesnachrichtendienst, a German intelligence agency, and the Bulgarian Committee for State Security.^[3]

In 1990 he returned to Croatia and in 1991 he founded a volunteer unit and named it "Convicts' Battalion" (Croatian: Kažnjenička bojna).^[4] In 1992 when Bosnian War started, "Convicts' Battalion" was replaced in Široki Brijeg (former Lištica) and they operated in Herzegovina. Members of the unit included foreign volunteers such as Germans, the British, the French, Swedes, Paraguayans and Argentines.^[5]

As part of the Croatian Defence Council ("Convicts' Battalion"), he fought against Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). He was his unit's commander, under general Ivan Andabak.^[6] He was a close friend of then-Croatian Minister of Defence Gojko Šušak. On 2 August 1992, Naletilić ordered his unit to assassinate Blaž Kraljević, general of the Croatian Defence Forces and general of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH), along with eight of Kraljević's staff. Naletilić rewarded twenty of the men in the unit with 5,000 Deutschmarks each.^[7] Kraljević had opposed attempts by Croatian president Franjo Tuđman and his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, as well as Mate Boban and Radovan Karadžić to divide Bosnia and Herzegovina.^{[8][9][10][11]}

In 1993 Jusuf Prazina joined Naletilić's unit. He was one of the organizers of the defence of Sarajevo and also a criminal. When the Croat-Bosniak War broke out in 1992, "Convicts' Battalion" fought against ARBiH in Jablanica, Doljani and Vakuf. On 17 April 1993, his unit attacked the village of Sovići and conducted forcible transfer of Bosniaks. On 9 May 1993, members of the "Convicts' Battalion" were involved in the siege of eastern Mostar.

In November 1993, Naletilić was in personal conflict with general Slobodan Praljak of the HVO and thus reportedly forced to leave his post as Chief of Staff of the HVO.^[12] In 1994, Naletilić opposed the truce between Croats and Bosniaks and also opposed the abolition of Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, an unrecognized entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, bitterly accusing Gojko Šušak and Franjo Tuđman of treason.^[12]

After the war ended, he left the army. In 1997, he was arrested and convicted of the murder of Robert Nosić, a military policeman and member of Croatian Defence Forces from Ljubuški.^[2] Naletilić spent two years in Remetinec prison. Due to health problems he was transferred to University Hospital Centre Zagreb on 14 November 1999. In March 2000, Naletilić was extradited to the ICTY in the Hague, and convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes during the Croat-Bosniak War. On 24 April 2008, he was transferred to serve his sentence in Italy. Credit was given for time served since 18 October 1999. Early release was granted on 29 November 2012 and Naletilić was released from prison on 18 February 2013.^[13][14]

He died on 17 December 2021, at the age of 75.^[15]

References

1. Terorista sa Pavelicevog praga Profile of Naletilić, bhdani.com; accessed 14 April 2015. (in Croatian)
2. Robert Bajruši (10 July 2002). "M. Tuđman u pismu ocu: Tuta je kriminalac i svodnik" [M. Tuđman in a letter to his father: Tuta is a criminal and a pimp]. Nacional (in Croatian). No. 347. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
3. Jasna Babić (5 June 2002). "Po Šuškovu naređenju, Tutina bojna ubijala je 'loše' Hrvate" [Tuta's battalion killed 'bad' Croats on Šušak's orders]. Nacional (in Croatian). No. 342. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
4. (in Croatian) Vlasnik kažnjeničke bojne, bhdani.com; accessed 21 August 2016.
5. Robert Bajruši (8 July 2005). "Jedini intervju Mladena Naletilića" [The only interview of Mladen Naletilić]. Nacional (in Croatian). Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
6. "Tuta je domoljub, a ne mafijaš i kriminalac", bhdani.com; accessed 14 April 2015. (in Croatian)
7. (in Croatian) Tuta je naredio: Poljubite Kraljevića, hsp1861.hr; accessed 14 April 2015. (in Croatian)
8. Ramet, Sabrina P. (2006). The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2005. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34656-8.
9. Tanner, Marcus (2001). Croatia: A Nation Forged in War. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09125-0.
10. Thomas, Nigel (2006). The Yugoslav Wars (2): Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia 1992–2001. New York: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-964-6.
11. Bošnjak, Mladen (2007). Blaž Kraljević: pukovnik i pokojnik (in Serbo-Croatian). Mostar: Radio Stari Most. ISBN 978-9958-9138-0-8.
12. Jasna Babić (9 April 2002). "Zbog laži u Haagu, Praljak potencijalni optuženik" [Praljak may be charged over lies in the Hague]. Nacional (in Croatian). No. 334. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
13. "Tuta izlazi iz zatvora za godinu dana" (in Croatian). Dnevno.hr. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
14. ICTY judgement, icty.org; accessed 14 April 2015.
15. Преминуо ратни злочинац Младен Налетилић Тута (in Serbian)