Biljana Plavsic, a prominent former Bosnian Serb leader who was convicted by a United Nations tribunal for crimes against humanity during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, has died in Belgrade at the age of 96, according to Bosnian Serb public media. Before her involvement in the political turmoil that fractured the former Yugoslavia, Plavsic had worked as a professor of natural sciences and a faculty dean at the University of Sarajevo.
During the Bosnian war, Plavsic served on the Bosnian Serb leadership council. Although Western officials once viewed her as more moderate compared to other figures in the Bosnian Serb leadership, she became a vocal opponent of the wartime Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic. Following the conclusion of the conflict, she served as president of Republika Srpska, the Bosnian Serb political entity, where she was among the key officials responsible for implementing the peace agreement signed in Dayton, Ohio.
In 2000, the Hague-based U.N. tribunal for the former Yugoslavia indicted Plavsic on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, citing her role in campaigns aimed at establishing a separate Serb entity in Bosnia. She voluntarily surrendered to the court in 2001. She later entered a guilty plea for the crime against humanity of persecution, leading to the withdrawal of other charges. In its sentencing, the U.N. court noted that Plavsic had rationalized and justified reports of ethnic cleansing while ignoring the power held by leaders to prevent or punish such crimes. The court expressed hope that her plea and acknowledgment of responsibility would foster reconciliation in the region.
Plavsic received an 11-year prison sentence and was released in 2009 after serving two-thirds of that term. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright testified at a sentencing hearing, highlighting Plavsic's support for the Dayton Accords, stating that she stood up for the agreement during difficult times when others sought to undermine it. Since her release from prison, Plavsic had lived in Belgrade and remained largely withdrawn from public life.
Following news of her death, Republika Srpska's public broadcaster RTRS reported that Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik offered his condolences, describing Plavsic as a close associate who deserved full state honors. Dodik, who was barred from public office last year by a Bosnian court for his secessionist efforts, claimed that Plavsic was held accountable by the Hague tribunal unjustly, framing her prosecution as part of a trend of targeting officials from Republika Srpska. Her passing follows the recent death of former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic, who died in detention while serving a sentence for genocide and other war crimes.
