Ante Paradžik | |
|---|---|
| Vice-president of the Croatian Party of Rights | |
| In office 25 February 1990 – 21 September 1991 | |
| President | Dobroslav Paraga |
| Leader of War Command of Croatian Defence Forces | |
| In office 25 June 1991 – 21 September 1991 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1943-02-10)10 February 1943[1] |
| Died | 21 September 1991(1991-09-21) (aged 48) |
| Party | League of Communists of Croatia(1971)Croatian Party of Rights(1990–1991) |
Ante Paradžik (10 February 1943 – 21 September 1991) was aCroatian right-wing politician and communist-era dissident. Paradžik was one of the founders of theCroatian Party of Rights.
Paradžik was born in 1943 inLjubuški. His father disappeared in 1945 as a member of thearmed forces of theIndependent State of Croatia. After finishing elementary and high school in Ljubuški, Paradžik enrolled at the Faculty of Law inSplit, and later continued his law studies at theUniversity of Zagreb. Hailing from a poor family, Paradžik occasionally worked as amanual laborer in the summer. He also volunteered inyouth work actions, earning the title ofudarnik three times.[1]
In 1968 Paradžik was elected into committee of the Union of Students of Croatia (Croatian:Savez studenata Hrvatske, SSH) at theFaculty of Law in Zagreb, and in May 1971 he was elected SSH's president, shortly after joining theLeague of Communists of Croatia.[2]
Paradžik studied social rights and workedpro bono, and he also advocated social justice. For 19 years he was without passport and deprived of human rights,[further explanation needed] after he participated inCroatian Spring in 1971. After Croatian Spring ended, he was imprisoned, and released after collapse ofSocialist Republic of Croatia in 1990.
Paradžik was one of the restorers ofCroatian Party of Rights on 25 February 1990.[3] He was also elected vice-president of the party and leader of War Command ofCroatian Defence Forces (HOS).
Ante Paradžik was very dangerous to the government ofFranjo Tuđman as the leader of paramilitaryCroatian Defence Forces, opposing every compromise with Serbian representatives in the conflict. He advocated Croatian statehood and independence, uniting what he saw as Croatian historical and ethnic lands:Croatia,Bosnia and Herzegovina andSyrmia.
At the founding meeting of Croatian Defense Forces,Dobroslav Paraga explained that the Croatian Party of Rights organized armed volunteer detachments whose fighters had already been fighting in the first line of fire in critical areas of Croatia. Paradžik accused the Croatian government of dividing Croatian lands in negotiations withSlobodan Milošević and added that their party (Croatian Party of Rights) would not recognize anypartition of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At a meeting of leaders of Croatian Party of Rights with officials fromAlbania andBulgaria, they adopted a charter about creation of an anti-hegemony coalition of movements and parties of Albanians, Bulgarians and Croats, with the goal to push Serbia within its pre-First Balkan War (1912) borders.
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Days before Paradžik was assassinated, the Defence Minister of Croatia,Ivan Vekić, told Paraga and Paradžik to instruct Croatian Defence Forces to cease the blockade of the barracks of the Yugoslav People's Army, or face disarmament by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Paradžik was assassinated in front of the building of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Croatia on 21 September 1991. After his assassination,Slobodan Milošević requested (at a peace conference held inThe Hague in November 1991) thatFranjo Tuđman disarmCroatian Defence Forces and soon afterwards Tuđman issued a command to disarm the Croatian Defence Forces and to ban theCroatian Party of Rights as well as the Serbian nationalist partySerb Democratic Party. Even though the Croatian Defence Forces had formally been disarmed, they continued to be active in theCroatian War of Independence. The last unit was dissolved on 5 April 1993 in central Bosnia.[citation needed]
Paradžik was married with three children. His best man wasDražen Budiša, Croatian liberal politician and participant inCroatian Spring. His son, Mislav committed suicide on 25 December 2014.[citation needed]
