Franko Simatović "Frenki"
| Franko Simatović | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Франко Симатовић |
| Nickname(s) | Frenki |
| Born |
1 February 1950 Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia |
| Allegiance |
 SFR Yugoslavia FR Yugoslavia
|
| Years of service | 1978–2001 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Unit | Special Operations Unit (1991–1998) |
Franko "Frenki" Simatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Франко "Френки" Симатовић, born 1 April 1950) is a Serbian former intelligence officer and commander of the elite special forces police unit Special Operations Unit (JSO) from 1991 to 1998. The unit operated under the State Security Service (SDB) within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia.
Simatović is together with former head of the State Security Service (SDB) Jovica Stanišić being prosecuted for war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from 1991 to 1995, before the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He was initially acquitted on 30 May 2013 by the ICTY for his role in the wars but the verdict was later overturned on 15 December 2015 after successful appeal by the prosecutors (ICTY Appeals Chamber). The retrial before the UN Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) has commenced on 13 June 2017.
Simatović was born in Belgrade into a Croatian family. His father Pera Simatović was born in Dubrovnik, his mother Neda (née Winter) in Bjelovar. Pera Simatović was a Yugoslav Partisan who after the war became high-ranking officer in the Yugoslav Army, and was one of the founder of Partizan. Neda belonged to the influential family Winter in Bjelovar, and was the daughter of Franko Winter (whom Simatović is named after), the founder of a law firm in Bjelovar. The family has lived in Belgrade since after World War II.
...
Wikipedia