Convicted war criminal and former Yugoslav army chief Nebojsa Pavkovic dies at 79

Pavkovic was released from prison in Finland on September 28 before completing his sentence, due to his deteriorating health, and was allowed to return to Serbia for medical treatment.

He had been convicted of war crimes committed in Kosovo.

Pavkovic was born on April 10, 1946, in the village of Senjski Rudnik. He graduated from the Military Academy of the Yugoslav Army’s Ground Forces in 1970, later completing the Command and Staff Academy and the Command and Staff School of Operations with top marks.

He served as commander of the Priština Corps starting in January 1998, and later as commander of the Third Army of the Yugoslav Army from December 1998 to February 2000.

In February 2000, Pavkovic was appointed to the highest military post, Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army. He was dismissed from that position by a decree of the then–President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Kostunica, in June 2002.