The BH UK Network mourns the death of General Jovan Divjak, who passed away at the age of 84 in Sarajevo.
“The BH community in Great Britain is deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend General Jovan Divjak. We will forever remember him as someone who lived his life trying to protect the vulnerable. We will remember him not only for his strength and courage, but also for his steadfast kindness and nobility. We express our sincere condolences to his family and friends,” said the president of BH UK Network, Mr. Zaim Pašić.
Jovan Divjak (born March 11, 1937), Bosnian general and writer. One of the most popular generals of the RBiH Army and the second man of the Army.
Although born in Belgrade, given that his father is originally from the Bosnian Krajina region where he worked as a teacher, Divjak identifies as Bosnian, which he has repeatedly emphasized in interviews with domestic and foreign media.
He completed the 12th grade of the Military Academy in Belgrade, the battalion commander course, the Command and Staff Academy and the War School. Later, he also graduated from the French Army Staff School. He taught at the Military School in Sarajevo. The war found him serving as an officer in the headquarters of the BiH TO.
He became a brigadier general of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and an assistant to the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is the first holder of the highest French order, the Legion of Honor, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, wrote about Divjak on the Historija.ba portal.
Seeing that the JNA was arming Serbian paramilitary formations and civilians, he decided to hand over the weapons from Kiseljak to the Territorial Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, so that the JNA would not misuse them.
In 1991, a JNA military court sentenced him to nine months in prison for issuing weapons to the BiH TO. He escaped the sentence by leaving the JNA, after which he joined the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In Paris, a book of his conversations was published in French under the title “Sarajevo mon amour” (Sarajevo, my love).
He founded and incorporated himself into the “Education Builds BiH” foundation.
