Veselin Šljivančanin

Veselin Šljivančanin
Šljivančanin in 2010
Born	(1953-06-13) 13 June 1953 (age 63) Palež, Žabljak, Yugoslavia
Allegiance	SFR Yugoslavia  FR Yugoslavia (until 2001)
Service/branch	Yugoslav People's Army
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Battle of Vukovar

Veselin Šljivančanin (Cyrillic: Веселин Шљиванчанин; born 13 June 1953) is a former Montenegrin Serb officer in the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) who participated in the Battle of Vukovar and was subsequently convicted on a war crimes indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for his role in the Vukovar massacre. His prison sentence was changed twice, from five to 17 to ten years. He has since been ordered released by the ICTY on time served and good behavior.

Šljivančanin was born in the village of Palež near Žabljak, PR Montenegro, then FPR Yugoslavia. His family belongs to the Drobnjaci tribe, and have the slava of St. George. As a Major of the JNA, Šljivančanin took part in the battle of Vukovar which was fought from the end of August until 18 November 1991. After the fall of Vukovar, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was placed in command of a brigade of JNA stationed at Podgorica (then still known as Titograd), Montenegro.

He was promoted to colonel in the beginning of 1996, in the new national army of FR Yugoslavia following the disbanding of the JNA, and transferred to the Military Academy in Belgrade, where he served as a lecturer in military tactics. He retired from military service in October 2001.