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Nikola Šainović

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Nikola Šainović
Никола Шаиновић
Šainović in 2002
Deputy Prime Minister of FR Yugoslavia
In office
22 February 1994 – 9 October 2000
PresidentSlobodan Milošević
Prime MinisterRadoje Kontić
Momir Bulatović
Prime Minister of Serbia
In office
10 February 1993 – 18 March 1994
PresidentSlobodan Milošević
DeputySrboljub Vasović
Zoran Aranđelović
Saša Anđelković
Danilo Z. Marković
Dragoslav Jovanović
Preceded byRadoman Božović
Succeeded byMirko Marjanović
Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia
In office
23 December 1991 – 10 February 1993
Prime MinisterRadoman Božović
Preceded byVelimir Radivojević
Nikola Stanić
Budimir Košutić
Succeeded byDanilo Z. Marković
Dragoslav Jovanović
Minister of Energy and Mining
In office
11 February 1991 – 10 February 1993
Prime MinisterDragutin Zelenović
Radoman Božović
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byVladimir Živanović
Personal details
Born (1948-12-07) 7 December 1948 (age 75)
Bor, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Political partyLeague of Communists of Serbia (1977–90)
Socialist Party of Serbia (1990–present)
SpouseSvetlana Šainović
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade
University of Ljubljana
OccupationPolitician

Nikola Šainović (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Шаиновић, born 7 December 1948) is a Serbian politician. A close associate of Slobodan Milošević, he held several important state functions of Serbia and FR Yugoslavia during the 1990s. He has been a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia since the party's foundation.

He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of FR Yugoslavia in charge of foreign affairs from 1994 to 2000, and represented Milošević as his emissary in Kosovo affairs from October 1998 during the Kosovo War. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Serbia from 1993 to 1994 and as the minister of Energy and Mining of Serbia and the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia from 1991 to 1992.

In 2009, he was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague (ICTY) for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against ethnic Albanian civilians in 1999 during the Kosovo War. In 2015, he was granted early release after serving two-thirds of his sentence.[1]

Education and career

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Šainović finished primary and secondary school in his hometown and later graduated from the University of Belgrade's Technical Faculty in Bor in 1973.[2] He earned a master's degree from the University of Ljubljana in 1977 as a Chemical engineer.[3]

Soon afterwards he entered politics by becoming a member of the League of Communists of Serbia, Serbian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. He presided for four years over Bor Municipal Committee of the League of Communists and held several important executive positions in Yugoslavian energy powerhouse RTB Bor during the 1980s. [citation needed]

In 1989, he became a member of the Executive Council of the Serbian Parliament. At the same time, he was named the Republican Secretary for industry, energy and construction.[4] In 1991, the League of Communists of Serbia transformed into the Socialist Party of Serbia.[citation needed]

From 1991 to 1992 he served as the minister of Energy and Mining of Serbia and held the office of the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia.[4] In 1992 he also served as the Minister of Economy.[4]

On 10 February 1993, Šainović became the president of a minority Government of the Republic of Serbia after the SPS won the largest number of votes in the 20 December 1992 parliamentary election, with support from the Serbian Radical Party. On 18 March 1994, he resigned from office to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in charge of foreign affairs, on 22 February 1994.[4][5]

He soon made greater inner-party progress. On 28 November 1995 he was elected by the SPS party members into the executive council of the Socialist Party of Serbia, as well as its steering committee.[5]

The building of the Serbian Government

Šainović was reappointed FRY Deputy Prime Minister in 1996 under Radoje Kontić of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro after the 3 November 1996 parliamentary election on which SPS won the largest number of votes for the Serbian seats in the Council of Citizens of the FRY Federal Assembly.[citation needed] He was reappointed on new sessions in 1997, and again on 20 May 1998.[5]

FR Yugoslavia and SPS President Slobodan Milošević entrusted Šainović with representing him in 1998 with the Kosovo affairs, where inner-ethnic tensions escalated into a full-scale inter-state conflict. Šainović presided over the "Commission of Cooperation with the Mission for Verification of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Kosovo.[4]

He signed the Clark-Naumann Agreement, which mandated partial removal of FRY and Serbian forces from Kosovo and limitation of introduction of additional forces and equipment, as well as the deployment of unarmed OSCE verifiers.[5] He was also a member of the Yugoslavian and Serbian delegation in the failed Rambouillet peace talks with the Kosovo Albanian leaders from 7 February to mid-March 1999.[4] He stayed in the office of Deputy Prime Minister of FR Yugoslavia until the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in October 2000.[6]

ICTY trial and sentence

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The ICTY indicted him in May 1999 for being responsible together with Slobodan Milošević, Milan Milutinović, Dragoljub Ojdanić and Vlajko Stojiljković in a joint criminal enterprise spreading widespread terror and violence upon the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo in the period from 1 January 1999 to 20 June 1999. After the Yugoslavian Federal Assembly passed the bill permitting extradition of its citizens to the Hague tribunal, his lawyers had contacted the authorities to discuss his surrender. Šainović surrendered and was transferred to the ICTY on 2 May 2002.[7]

His trial began on 10 July 2006. On 26 February 2009, the ICTY sentenced Šainović to 22 years in prison, following a conviction for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including deportations and forcible transfers, murders and other persecutions.[8][9] On 23 January 2014 his sentence was reduced to 18 years on appeal.[10]

In June 2015, Šainović's attorneys asked for early release from the prison, explaining that he has served nearly two-thirds of the sentence, during which his behavior was commendable; also adding that his health is weak due to age and diagnosed diabetes and glaucoma.[11] On 26 August 2015, three months after the request by his lawyers, he was released from the prison after serving (including pretrial detention and time served) two-thirds of his sentence.[12]

Post-Hague release

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On 3 September 2015, just a week after having been released from prison, he was appointed to the board of the Socialist Party of Serbia, one of the ruling parties in the country.[13][14] In December 2017, Šainović was nominated for the Chairmanship board of the Socialist Party of Serbia.[15]

Personal life

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Šainović and his wife, Svetlana, have two sons, and reside in Belgrade.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Jovanovic, Igor (27 August 2015). "Serbian War Criminal Sainovic Returns to Belgrade". Balkan Insight.
  2. ^ "ICTY Case No. IT-05-87-PT" (PDF). ICTY.org. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. 11 June 2004. p. 10.
  3. ^ "Milosevic et al. amended indictment". ICTY.org. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "The Milosevic Indictment". The Guardian. 29 June 2001.
  5. ^ a b c d "CASE No. IT-99-37 Indictment". ICTY.org. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
  6. ^ "Case No. IT-99-37-PT Second Amended Indictment". ICTY.org. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
  7. ^ "Šainović and Gruban voluntarily surrender to the Hague". tol.org. 7 May 2002. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  8. ^ "Šainović profile". BBC News. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  9. ^ "Sainović profile". The Hague Justice Portal. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  10. ^ "International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia". Icty.org. 23 January 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Serbian War Criminal Sainovic Asks for Early Release". balkaninsight.com. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Former deputy PM found guilty by Hague granted early release". B92.net. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  13. ^ Marija Ristic (4 September 2015). "Serbian Socialists Appoint War Criminal as Senior Official". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  14. ^ "Serbia Failing to Prosecute War Crimes, HLC Says". Balkan Insight. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  15. ^ "Dačić: Šainović u predsedništvu SPS". danas.rs (in Serbian). FoNet. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
[edit]
Political offices
Preceded by
 Deputy Prime Minister of FR Yugoslavia
1994–2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Serbia
1993–1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Velimir Radivojević
Nikola Stanić
Budimir Košutić
 Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia
1991–1993 		Succeeded by
Danilo Z. Marković
Dragoslav Jovanović
Preceded by
Position established
 Minister of Energy and Mining of Serbia
1991–1993 		Succeeded by
Vladimir Živanović
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