HDZ PRESIDENT SAYS FAREWELL TO LATE GENERAL BOBETKO
http://www.hina.hr/ - May 2, 2003

ZAGREB, May 2 (Hina) - Several thousand citizens, top state, military and party officials, said their last farewell to Croatian Army General Janko Bobetko outside Zagreb's Mirogoj Mortuary on Friday.

After a church ceremony, led by Military Ordinary, Bishop Juraj Jezerinac, Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) president Ivo Sanader said that General Bobetko was "a symbol of the reconciliation of the Croatian people, which is one of the most important foundations of Croatia's independence".

Reminding about the life path of General Bobetko, Sanader said that the general had participated in and won both anti-fascists wars, World War II and the Homeland War.

"However, after the Second World War General Bobetko, as well as other anti-fascists who dreamt about Croatia's freedom, was disappointed."

During the Croatian Spring in 1971 he was replaced from the post of commander of the 5th Military District and forced to retire after which he had been placed under permanent surveillance by former Yugoslav intelligence services. In 1990 he joined the HDZ and the Croatian army in the fight for independence, Sanader said.

The HDZ president stressed that through the military operations he led, Bobetko became a legend of Croatia's battles for freedom and independence. Sanader added that there were no stains on Bobetko's noble work.

"Nobody can and will change the truth about the Homeland War which was just and of a liberation nature, as well as the role of General Bobetko in the defence of the state," Sanader said.

Several thousands citizens paid respect to the late general outside the Mirogoj Mortuary. Along with top officials of almost all political parties, also present were Prime Minister Ivica Racan and Parliament president Zlatko Tomcic. The Office of the Croatian President sent a wreath.

At the end of the ceremony, Bobetko's casket was transported to his hometown Crnac, near Sisak.

COMMEMORATION FOR GENERAL BOBETKO HELD AT DEFENCE MINISTRY
http://www.hina.hr/ - April 30, 2003

ZAGREB, April 30 (Hina) - Members of the Croatian Defence Ministry and the Armed Forces' Main Staff gathered at a commemoration in Zagreb on Wednesday to pay tribute to a retired general and former army chief-of-staff, Janko Bobetko, who died in Zagreb on Tuesday.

Expressing condolences to Bobetko's family on behalf of the Armed Forces, the Chief-of-Staff, Lieutenant General Josip Lucic, said the Armed Forces were forever indebted to Bobetko for his great deeds.

"Members of the Armed Forces will always remember the man who, in an advanced age and having earned his retirement, made available his huge experience and started building a new army, consisting mostly of people without military experience but wishing to live in peace and in their own country," Lucic said. Patiently and steadfastly, Bobetko built an army which was able to first stop and later, in operations "Flash" and "Storm", force the aggressor out of the country, Lucic added.

He recalled Bobetko's successful command of Croatian troops on different fronts during the war. Members of guard brigades and the army will forever remember the man who spoke quietly, but whose words were heard and respected by everyone, Lucic said.

Along with Bobetko's family, today's commemoration was attended by Parliament President Zlatko Tomcic, Prime Minister Ivica Racan, President Stjepan Mesic's envoy Petar Stipetic and Defence Minister Zeljka Antunovic.

A book of condolence was opened at the Defence Ministry.

General Janko Bobetko will be bid goodbye at Zagreb's central cemetery of Mirogoj on Friday, May 2, and will be buried on the same day in the village of Crnac in Sisak County, where he was born.

The goodbye and burial ceremonies will be held with the highest military honours.

RETIRED CROATIAN GENERAL JANKO BOBETKO DIES
http://www.hina.hr/ - April 29, 2003

ZAGREB, April 29 (Hina) - A retired Croatian General, Janko Bobetko, died at 11.55 on Tuesday at his Zagreb home, Mijo Bergovec, head of a team of doctors following Bobetko's condition, said in a statement.

The cause of death was the failure of circulatory and respiratory systems. Despite attempts at resuscitation, the general died at 11.55, the statement said.

PROFILE OF GENERAL JANKO BOBETKO
http://www.hina.hr/ - April 29, 2003.

ZAGREB, April 29 (Hina) - A Croatian general and politician, Janko Bobetko (aged 84), died on Tuesday at his Zagreb home due to the failure of circulatory and respiratory systems. He was an anti- fascist fighter in World War II and advocate of Croatian national interests in socialist Yugoslavia, a commander-in-chief in independent Croatia in the 1990s, and an indictee of the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague in the last year of his life.

Bobetko was born on 10 January 1919 in the village of Crnac near Sisak. He joined the partisan movement in 1941 as a student at the age of 21, and some 30 years later was forcibly sent into retirement as a Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) general for his participation in the "Croatian Spring" movement. After Croatia gained independence in 1990, Bobetko joined its army with which he participated in the liberation of Croatian areas occupied by Serb terrorists and the JNA.

After the Ustasha killed his father and three brothers he joined the partisan movement in 1941 to become a member of the first Sisak Partisan Unit, the first anti-fascist unit in Europe.

After the war, he completed the JNA's Military Academy, after which he held high army posts - from the head of the navy's political administration and head of logistics to the post of a chief-of- staff.

In 1966 he was appointed chief-of-staff and deputy commander of the 5th JNA district (Croatia and Slovenia) with the rank of a general. He was forced to retire along with 19 other Croat generals in 1972 due to advocacy of Croatian national interests. From 1972 to shortly before Croatia gained independence he was banned from holding public offices or making public statements.

After Croatia gained independence, Bobetko joined late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, who on 10 April 1992 gave him a general's rank and appointed him commander of the southern Croatian front. Bobetko commanded the forces which carried out operations in the areas of Dubrovnik, Ploce and the Neretva River valley and liberated Dubrovnik and its hinterland.

At the end of the same year, on November 20, Bobetko was appointed Croatian Army Chief-of-Staff, replacing General Antun Tus. He held the post until his retirement on July 15, 1995. From 1995 until 1999 he was a deputy of the Croatian Democratic Union in parliament.

In 1996, retired General Janko Bobetko published a book, "Sve moje bitke" (unofficial translation All My Battles), in which he described events from Croatia's recent history. The book included documents and maps related to the military-police operations "Jackal" in Bosnia-Herzegovina near the border with southern Croatia, "Tiger" (the liberation of Dubrovnik), "Maslenica", "Medak Pocket", "Flash" and "Storm".

In September 2002 the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia indicted him for command and individual responsibility for war crimes committed in the 1993 "Medak Pocket" operation. Bobetko refused to receive the indictment and said he would not go to The Hague alive.

STATE AND PARTY OFFICIALS SEND CONDOLENCES ON BOBETKO'S DEATH
http://www.hina.hr/ - April 29, 2003.

ZAGREB, April 29 (Hina) - On the occasion of the death of retired Staff General Janko Bobetko, condolences to his family were sent by numerous state officials and public and political figures. #L#
Sabor Vice President Zdravko Tomac stressed that Bobetko marked recent Croatian history as a legendary Croatian general who fought against Fascism in World War II and against the Greater Serbian aggression against Croatia.

Regardless of the events that marked the end of his life, Bobetko will be counted amongst the greatest men the Croatian people, Tomac said in his telegram.

Janko Bobetko was a symbol of resistance by the Croatian people in the struggle for freedom. He was one of the legendary commanders in the Homeland War, a telegram sent by Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) president, Ivo Sanader said.

General Bobetko's departure is that of a hero, a highly moral person and a symbol of Croatia's struggle for freedom and the preservation of its independence. This is a irretrievable loss for Croatia on the whole, Sanader's telegram said. Amongst else it notes that HDZ members were proud that Bobetko was a member of that party and that it was in this party that he saw that he could achieve his political ideals.

President of the Croatian Social Liberal Party Drazen Budisa said that he was deeply shaken with the news of Bobetko's death. According to Budisa, Bobetko should be given huge credit for creating and defending Croatia. It is a sad fact that the man died with an indictment of war crimes against him, Budisa said.

The Democratic Centre (DC) pointed out that it received with great sadness the news of the death of General Bobetko. He was one of the greatest generals in Croatian history and a fighter to found the Croatian state, this party added.

An association of Croatian veterans, called Sredisnji stozer hrvatskih branitelja, pointed out that the death of a great man, military leader, politician and patriot, Janko Bobetko, was an irretrievable loss for his family and the entire Croatian nation.

The association noted that the false accusations and pressure placed upon the general more than certainly accelerated his death and that fact obliged Croatian veterans to continue their fight against the criminalisation of the Homeland War and attempts to equalise the victim with the aggressor.

The Croatian Christian Democratic Union (HKDU) in its expression of condolence to Bobetko's family thanked him for everything he did for Croatia.

A telegram expressing their condolences were forwarded by the heads of the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO). It noted that Bobetko's death was a huge and irretrievable loss for the Croatian people and state.

Croatia's Ex-Army Chief Bobetko Dies
http://www.newsday.com/ - April 29, 2003

By SNJEZANA VUKIC
Associated Press Writer

April 29, 2003, 12:02 PM EDT

ZAGREB, Croatia -- Wartime army chief Janko Bobetko, hailed at home as a hero of Croatia's 1991 struggle for independence but charged with war crimes by a U.N. court, died Tuesday, his doctor said. He was 84.

Bobetko's physician, Mijo Bergovec, told the state-run news agency HINA that Bobetko died at his home after his heart and respiratory organs failed.

Bobetko, the most senior Croatian officer sought by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, was never tried because of his ill health.

The court, which revealed his indictment in September, acknowledged in February he was too ill to stand trial.

Bobetko spent his last days at his Zagreb home after demanding April 23 to be released from a hospital, where he had been treated since November.

The tribunal indictment charged Bobetko with responsibility in the killings of at least 100 Serb civilians and soldiers during Croatia's 1993 offensive to retake a central Croatian area seized by the Serb rebels in the 1991 war.

Bobetko vehemently refused to surrender, and nationalists and war veterans threatened to fight against his extradition.

In his memoirs titled "All My Battles," Bobetko said the 1993 action -- aimed to end the rebels' siege and bombardment of the central Croatian city of Gospic -- was "brilliant."

"In only four hours, Serb units were crushed," he wrote.

But even though the book was published in 1996, long after U.N. peacekeepers accused Croatian troops of alleged atrocities against civilians and a "scorched earth policy," Bobetko barely mentioned local Serbs.

"Some (Serbs) fled, some surrendered. Elderly, women and children were released," he wrote. The casualties, he claimed, were only "minimal."

Bobetko's leading role in Croatia's independence struggle won him supporters, even admirers throughout the newly independent country.

Prime Minister Ivica Racan expressed condolences to Bobetko's family, only saying he would be "remembered as a man with a rich political and military career."

But Ivo Sanader, the leader of the opposition Croatian Democratic Union, which Bobetko belonged to, praised him as "a hero ... a symbol of Croatia's fight for freedom and independence."

Bobetko was born Jan. 10, 1919, in a village near Sisak, central Croatia.

At the start of World War II, Bobetko joined anti-fascist forces and participated in the formation of one of their first units in Croatia.

After the war, when communist-run Yugoslavia was established, Bobetko remained in the federal army, or JNA, and was promoted to general in 1954.

After Croatia's 1991 declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia -- which triggered the six-month war with Serb rebels, Bobetko joined the Croatian army. In November 1992, he was appointed army chief of staff by the late President Franjo Tudjman.

Even before his own indictment, Bobetko joined veterans' anti-government protests, claiming that prosecution of Croatian war crimes amounted to treason.

Bobetko is survived by his wife and three sons. Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.

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