Ante Jelavić

Ante Jelavić
Ante Jelavić
3rd Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
	In office; 15 June 1999 – 14 February 2000
Preceded by	Živko Radišić
Succeeded by	Alija Izetbegović
2nd Croat Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
	In office; 15 November 1998 – 7 March 2001
Prime Minister	Spasoje Tuševljak Martin Raguž Božidar Matić
Preceded by	Krešimir Zubak
Succeeded by	Jozo Križanović
Prime Minister
Ministerial offices
Federal Minister of Defence
	In office; 18 December 1996 – 13 October 1998
Prime Minister	Edhem Bičakčić
Preceded by	Jadranko Prlić
Succeeded by	Miroslav Prce
Preceded by
Additional positions
1st President of the Croatian National Assembly
	In office; 28 October 2000 – 4 May 2002
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Dragan Čović
President of the Croatian Democratic Union
	In office; 17 May 1998 – 4 May 2002
Preceded by	Božo Rajić
Succeeded by	Bariša Čolak
Personal details
Born	21 August 1963 (age 61); Vrgorac, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Bosnian Croat
Political party	Croatian Democratic Union
Residence(s)	Zagreb, Croatia
Military service
Allegiance	Yugoslavia (1986–1991) Croatia (1991) Herzeg-Bosnia (1991–1996) Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996)
Branch/service	Yugoslav People's Army 1986–1991) Croatian National Guard (1991) Croatian Defence Council (1991–1996) Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996)
Years of service	1991–1996
Rank	Colonel General Colonel General Major General
Unit	Croatian Defence Council
Commands	Croatian Defence Council
Battles/wars	Bosnian War Croatian War of Independence
Awards	Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski Order of Ban Jelačić Order of the Croatian Trefoil Homeland's Gratitude Medal

Ante Jelavić (born 21 August 1963) is a Bosnian Croat politician who served as the 2nd Croat member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1998 to 2001. He was the youngest person to hold the office of Presidency member and also the youngest Presidency member at the end of his tenure.

Jelavić previously served as the Federal Minister of Defence from 1996 to 1998. He was also president of the Croatian Democratic Union from 1998 to 2002.

Presidency (1998–2001)

At the 1998 general election, Jelavić was elected to the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, having obtained 52.91% of the vote. The Social Democratic Party candidate, Gradimir Gojer, was second with 31.83%. Taking office at the age of 35, he was the youngest person to hold the office of Presidency member.^[1]

On 7 March 2001, Jelavić was removed from office by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wolfgang Petritsch. Petritsch justified his decision by observing that Jelavić had "directly violated the constitutional order of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of Bosnia and Herzegovina"; in particular he cited Jelavić's leading role in the 'Croatian National Assembly' rally in Mostar on 3 March 2001, calling for a separate governing entity for Bosnian Croats.^[2]

Investigations and indictments

On 22 January 2004, Jelavić was arrested in his home in Mostar, on charges of corruption. On 4 November 2005, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo found Jelavić guilty of abuse of office, embezzlement of office, and lack of commitment in office. The findings of guilt related, in part, to the use of funds from the Federal Ministry of Defence to purchase shares in banking and insurance firms Hercegovačka Banka and Herzegovina Osiguranje. Judge Malcolm Simmons^[who?] presided,^[3] A sentence of ten years imprisonment was subsequently pronounced, although Jelavić was not present at the sentencing hearing ^[why?] and remained at large.^{[citation needed]}

His attorney, Dragan Barbarić, acting in his client's absence, initiated a successful appeal against the first instance verdict on the grounds that it lacked proper factual description of the offence and as such was in violation of criminal procedural law. On 4 July 2006, with the verdict revoked, the appeal panel, presided over by Judge Nedžad Popovac, called for new proceedings in which evidence presented at the first trial will be re-presented and in which new evidence may also be presented.^[4]