2026-10-02 19:35:00Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA ENVER ROBELLI

Biljana Plavšić, a Bosnian Serb politician during the war in the 1990s, was a biologist by profession. And the only woman to be convicted by the Hague Tribunal for war crimes. She admitted to the atrocities, but later denied any wrongdoing. When Arkan’s paramilitary gang massacred dozens of people in eastern Bosnia, including Albanian Hajrush Ziberi, Plavšić ran to hug Arkan. She died on Thursday in Belgrade at the age of 96. Biljana Plavšić, the former president of the Bosnian Serb entity, called “Republika Srpska,” and one of the most brutal figures on the Serbian political scene in the 1990s, died on Thursday in Belgrade at the age of 96.

This is what the Serbian media reported. Plavšić is a disgusting example of how even brilliantly educated people can turn into bloodthirsty people. Born in 1930 in Tuzla, in northeastern Bosnia, she followed in her father's footsteps and became a biologist. She studied at the University of Zagreb, then went to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship to specialize. In socialist Yugoslavia, which included the multiethnic republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Plavšić quickly advanced in her career, becoming a professor at the University of Sarajevo.

He never joined the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, while a Radio Free Europe profile from 1997 notes that Plavšić may have embraced the Serbian nationalist agenda during his stay in the US, where it is believed he established contacts with Serbian nationalist circles in exile.

She entered politics with the beginning of the breakup of Yugoslavia. She was a founding member of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), led by Radovan Karadzic. Her statements against coexistence and explicit anti-ethnicity make her similar to Nazi propagandists. Just as they spoke against Jews, Plavšić railed against Bosniaks (Muslims). In 1993, she told the magazine “Svet”: “Muslims are descended from Serbs, but they (Muslims) are genetically corrupted Serbian material that passed into Islam. And now, of course, from generation to generation this gene simply condenses. It becomes worse and worse, it is simply expressed, it dictates such a way of thinking and behaving. This is already embedded in the genes.”

Pasi u largua nga kryesia e Republikës Socialiste të Bosnjë-Hercegovinës, ku përfaqësonte popullatën serbe, Pllavshiq ushtroi funksionin e nënkryetares së të ashtuquajturës “Republika Srpska” dhe ishte bashkëpunëtore e ngushtë e kriminelëve të luftës si Radovan Karaxhiq, Ratko Mlladiq e Momçillo Krajishnik. Ajo ishte padyshim gruaja më e tmerrshme e ultranacionalizimit serb dhe luftërave të tij kundër popujve të tjerë të Ballkanit. Në betejën për Serbinë e Madhe ishte e gatshme të paguante çdo çmim – për aq kohë sa bëhej fjalë për jetën e të tjerëve. Citohet të ketë thënë: “Janë 12 milionë serbë, le të vdesin gjashtë milionë. Gjysma tjetër prapë do të gëzojë frytet e punës dhe të luftës”.

Në prill të vitit 1992, Pllavshiq vizitoi qytetin e Bijelinës, në kufi me Serbinë, pak ditë pasi njësitë paraushtarake të Zhelko Razhnjatoviq (Arkanit) masakruan rreth 50 civilë, mes tyre edhe shqiptarë që punonin në Bosnjë. Ndërsa kufomat ende ishin të shtrira në rrugë, Pllavshiq iu hodh në përqafim, e përgëzoi dhe e puthi Arkanin. Ajo më pas u tha gazetarëve: “Unë puth vetëm heronjtë”.

Ndër viktimat e para të agresionit serb në Bosnjën lindore kanë qenë shqiptarët. Njerëz punëtorë që kishin furra buke, byrektore, dyqane, lokale të vogla akulloresh. Një nga viktimat ishte Hajrush Ziberi nga rrethina e Shkupit. Fotografi Ron Haviv ka arritur ta fotografojë Hajrushin pak para se të vritej nga paramilitarët serbë. Viktima çon duart lart dhe lutet për mëshirë. Në një fotografi tjetër dy paramilitarë serbë i hedhin benzinë Hajrushit mbi kokë. Ai ishte vetëm 24 vjeç kur u vra. Punonte kamerier në Bijelinë.

Në lidhje me këto vrasje në Bijelinë, portali kroat Index citon shkrimtaren dhe gazetaren Sllavenka Drakuliq, e cila ka shkruar: “Ju kujtohet Biljana Pllavshiqi gjatë vizitës në Bijelinë në fillim të pranverës së vitit 1992? Ishte atje pikërisht pasi krimineli i luftës Zhelko Razhnjatoviq (Arkani) kishte ‘çliruar’ këtë qytet boshnjak nga boshnjakët, për çka zonja e përgëzoi. E veshur elegante si zakonisht, me flokë të rregulluara dhe taka të larta, ajo e përqafoi dhe e puthi me përzemërsi, ndërkohë që rreth saj në trotuar shtriheshin njerëz të sapovrarë, mbi të cilët duhej të kapërcente për të arritur tek ai”. Fjalë të zgjedhura Pllavshiq kishte edhe për Ratko Mlladiqin, të cilin e lavdëronte si “njeri të mirë” dhe “ushtar të klasit të parë”.

Pas përfundimit të luftës në Bosnjë dhe me ngritjen e aktakuzës për krime kundër Radovan Karaxhiqit nga Tribunali i Hagës, Pllavshiq e trashëgoi atë në postin e kryetares së “Republika Srpskas”. Karaxhiq u strehua në Serbi deri më 2008, kur u arrestua nën presionin e bashkësisë ndërkombëtare. Fillimisht Pllavshiq u tregua bashkëpunuese me SHBA-të dhe Bashkimin Europian.

In 2001, she surrendered to the Hague Tribunal after an indictment was filed against her. In late February 2003, Plavšić was sentenced to eleven years in prison for crimes against humanity. She was found guilty of her role in war crimes committed against Bosniaks and Croats. Judge Richard May emphasized that she had planned, instigated and ordered “ethnic cleansing.”

Plavšić received a relatively light sentence because during the trial against her she pleaded guilty to committing crimes against humanity. On the contrary, the prosecution dropped the charge of genocide. Plavšić’s case was also facilitated by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former High Representative of the international community for Bosnia and Herzegovina Carl Bildt. As witnesses, both praised Plavšić’s role in implementing the Dayton Agreement immediately after the war. At that time, Plavšić proposed a new politician as prime minister of “Republika Srpska”. His name was Milorad Dodik, he said he was a social democrat, he was critical of Karadžić and Mladić, he declared that genocide was committed by Serbian forces in Srebrenica. This time seems very distant. Dodik has meanwhile become a denier of Serbian war crimes and a notorious praiser of Karadžić and Mladić.

Plavšić served her sentence in Hinseberg Women’s Prison in Sweden and, after serving two-thirds of it, was released in October 2009. Shortly before her release from prison, she told a Swedish newspaper: “I sacrificed myself. I did nothing wrong.” Upon her return to Belgrade, she completely removed the mask and said that pleading guilty had been just a tactical move to avoid a longer trial and a harsher sentence.

Milorad Dodik welcomed the brutal biologist at Belgrade Airport. At that time, the well-known Serbian journalist Tamara Skrozza wrote the following in the magazine “Vreme”: “Accompanied by Milorad Dodik, Biljana Plavšić went from the airport to her apartment on ‘Kataničeva’ street in Vračar (a Belgrade neighborhood) in the afternoon of October 27. The former president was elegant, polite and smiling. Public opinion was informed in time that relatives would prepare a vegetarian meal and tatli, while the parking service took care that on ‘Kataničeva’ street she would not be obstructed by vehicles parked on the street. The graves of Bosnia, the raped women, the ruins of Sarajevo, the people displaced and destroyed by the war, are far from Vračar, far from Biljana Plavšić, far from all those who welcomed her and rejoiced for her. Life, then, goes on. As if nothing had happened.”

On Thursday, Dodik was among the first Bosnian Serb politicians to express their sorrow and condolences for the death of war criminal Plavšić. She, Dodik said, deserves all the honors of the “Republika Srpska”. After Ratko Mladić, whose funeral was honored by thousands of Serbs, a new nationalist orgy of the “Serb world” is now expected.


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