Zdravko Tolimir (born 27 November 1948) is a Bosnian Serb who was a commander in the Army of Republika Srpska

Army of Republika Srpska

The Army of Republika Srpska ; Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian Vojska Republike Srpske ) also referred to as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of today's Republika Srpska which was then the "Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina", a self-proclaimed state within the internationally recognized...

 during the Bosnian War

Bosnian War

The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...

.

Tolimir was born in Glamoč

Glamoc

Glamoč is a town and municipality of the same name in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is in Canton 10, in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

, then Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

. He was Assistant Commander of Intelligence and Security for the Bosnian Serb army and reported directly to the commander, General Ratko Mladić

Ratko Mladić

Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...

.

According to the indictment, Tolimir was aware of the program aimed at expelling Bosniaks

Bosniaks

The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...

 from Srebrenica

Srebrenica

Srebrenica is a town and municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War, the town was the site of the July 1995 massacre,...

 and Zepa

Žepa

Žepa is a town in the east of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina in the municipality of Rogatica. Žepa is located northeast of Rogatica itself, southwest of Srebrenica and northwest of Višegrad...

, and he willingly participated in the project. On 9 July 1995, when President Radovan Karadžić

Radovan Karadžic

Radovan Karadžić is a former Bosnian Serb politician. He is detained in the United Nations Detention Unit of Scheveningen, accused of war crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats during the Siege of Sarajevo, as well as ordering the Srebrenica massacre.Educated as a...

 passed down an order to seize Srebrenica, the order was passed directly through Tolimir.

In Zepa, Tolimir was alleged to have told the Bosniaks that they or the Serbs of Bosnia would launch a military operation. The Bosniaks refused to leave and, early on the morning of 14 July 1995, the Bosnian Serbs launched an attack against the Zepa enclave as said to have been commanded by him.

On 21 July 1995, Tolimir sent a report to General Radomir Miletic, acting Chief of General Staff of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS), requesting help to crush some Bosnian military strongholds and expressing his view that "the best way to do it would be to use chemical weapons". In the same report, Tolimir went even further, proposing chemical strikes against refugee columns of women, children and elderly leaving Zepa, because that would "force the Muslim fighters to surrender quickly", in his opinion.

On 31 May 2007, Tolimir was detained by the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina after having been on the run for two years.

Tolimir had negotiated with the Serbian government concerning his surrender to The Hague tribunal.

He was handed to NATO personnel at the Banja Luka Airport on 31 May 2007, after being apprehended in Serbia. An ICTY representative formally read him the ICTY indictment while still at Banja Luka, and then NATO forces formally arrested him and took him to the NATO base in Sarajevo. NATO forces brought him to Rotterdam on 1 June 2007, and turned over custody of him to The Tribunal, which brought him to The Hague the same day. He is charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes.

Tolimir is being charged for Srebrenica genocide and acting in conjunction with other Bosnian Serb army and police officers in a joint enterprise. He has been indicted for the forcible removal of women and children from the Srebrenica enclave, and the execution of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys in July 1995.

On 5 October 2007, the registry of the ICTY announced their assessment of Tolimir's health as “grave, fragile and highly alarming”, and that Tolimir was refusing blood pressure

Blood pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...

 treatment for an inoperable brain aneurism

Cerebral aneurysm

A cerebral or brain aneurysm is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel.- Signs and symptoms :...

. Tolimir had previously stated that he planned to represent himself during the trial.

External links

• At Large Persons Publicly Indicted for War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia (Page 5 of 5)
• Indictment — International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
  International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
  The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
  
  (ICTY)
• Registrar's submission on the accused's submission of 7 September 2007, 5 October 2007 (PDF) ICTY