General Nebojsa Pavkovic released by Hague, returns to Belgrade

File photo: Tanjug/MoD

A Serbian Government plance, which took former commander of the 3rd Army of the Yugoslav Army and Chief of the General Staff General Nebojsa Pavkovic back home, landed in Belgrade on Sunday afternoon, having taken off from Finland, RTS reported.

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Upon his arrival in Belgrade, General Nebojsa Pavkovic was transferred by ambulance to the VMA clinic.

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic had a telephone conversation with General Pavkovic before he left for Serbia and wished him a safe trip.

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague made a decision to release Nebojsa Pavkovic early due to the seriousness of his health condition.

During the NATO aggression against Serbia in 1999, General Pavkovic was the commander of the 3rd Army of the Yugoslav Army, which was deployed in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.

In 2009, the Hague Tribunal sentenced him to 22 years in prison, after the prosecution charged him with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war.

The indictment against General Pavkovic was unsealed in October 2003, and he surrendered to the Hague Tribunal in 2005.

(Telegraf.rs/RTS)