Branimir Glavaš

Who is Branimir Glavaš?

Branimir Glavaš is a Croatian former major general and right-wing politician. He was one of the founders of Croatian Democratic Union and one of its key players until split in 2006. In 2009 he was found guilty for war crimes.

Glavaš came to prominence in his home city of Osijek during the Croatian war of independence, when he led its defense and became a major general in the Croatian Army. After the war he continued to exercise much influence as one of the leading members of Croatian Democratic Union.

In 2005/2006, Glavaš was first accused of war crimes, and he also left HDZ and founded a new party – the Croatian Democratic Assembly of Slavonia and Baranja. After a lengthy and controversial trial, during which he was re-elected to parliament and had to be stripped of immunity twice, in 2009 he was found guilty of torture and murder of Serb civilians in Osijek during the war, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Glavaš fled to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he remained free because of his dual citizenship. In 2010, when his conviction was confirmed, though commuted to 8 years in prison, he was ejected from the Croatian Parliament, stripped of his war-time medals and rank, and eventually incarcerated in Bosnia and Herzegovina.