| White Eagles | |
|---|---|
| Бели орлови Beli orlovi | |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:White_eagles.svg) Coat-of-arms of the White Eagles | |
| Active | 1991–1995 |
| Allegiance |  Serbia Serbian Krajina Republika Srpska |
| Nickname(s) | Avengers (Osvetnici) Šešelj's men (Šešeljevci) |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Vojislav Šešelj Mirko Jović Dragoslav Bokan Milan Lukić |
The White Eagles (Serbian: Бели орлови, romanized: Beli orlovi), also known as the Avengers (Serbian: Осветници, romanized: Osvetnici),[1] were a Serbian paramilitary group associated with the Serbian National Renewal (SNO) and the Serbian Radical Party (SRS).[2][3] The White Eagles fought in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars.[2][3]
In the 2003 Vojislav Šešelj indictment from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the group is included as an alleged party in a joint criminal enterprise of ethnic cleansing, in which SRS leader Šešelj allegedly took part. In the indictment the group is identified as "volunteer units including 'Chetniks', or Šešeljevci" (Serbian Cyrillic: Шешељевци).[4] This association was denied by Šešelj.[5] On 31 March 2016, he was acquitted in a first-instance verdict on all counts by the ICTY, a ruling which still holds today, barring an unrelated conviction from its successor (International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals) for instigating deportation of Croats from the Serbian village of Hrtkovci.[6]
- ^ "ICTY: Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić judgement" (PDF).
- ^ a b "Profile: Vojislav Seselj" BBC News 27 November 2006
- ^ a b Allen, Beverly (1996) Rape Warfare: The Hidden Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, pp. 154-155, ISBN 0-8166-2818-1
- ^ ICTY, Vojislav Seselj indictment, 15 January 2003
- ^ "In previous wars (Bosnia, Croatia) there was a small paramilitary organisation called White Eagles, but the Serb Radical Party had absolutely nothing to do with them."Testimony of Vojislav Šešelj, Transcript of 23 August 2005, p. 43081, lines 16-18
- ^ "Trial Judgement in the case of Vojislav Šešelj delivered | International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia". www.icty.org. Retrieved 7 August 2024.