Stjepan Šiber | |
|---|---|
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1938-08-20)20 August 1938 Gradačac,Kingdom of Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) |
| Died | 25 August 2016(2016-08-25) (aged 78) Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Party | Republican Party |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch/service | |
| Rank | Brigadier general |
| Battles/wars | Bosnian War |
Stjepan Šiber (20 August 1938 – 25 August 2016) was aCroat Bosnian brigadier general and politician. After finishing high school in Gradačac, he went toLjubljana, where he finished schooling at the military academy. Afterward, he became an officer in theYugoslav People's Army. By 1992, he had become alieutenant colonel. In 2000, he was elected to theHouse of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Stjepan Šiber was born on 20 August 1938 in Gradačac.[1] His great-grandfather was a German immigrant. Šiber completed primary and secondary school inGradačac, and then went toLjubljana in 1957 to attend the Military Academy of the Yugoslav People's Army. After graduating from the academy, he became an active officer in theYugoslav People's Army. By 1992, he had risen to the rank of colonel.[1]
In April 1992, when the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina began, Šiber became subordinate to thePresidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2]Alija Izetbegović proposed that he become the commander of theARBiH, but Šiber refused because the Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina was Croat. He was appointed deputy commander of the ARBiH.[2] He was accepted into a seat in the Presidency of Bosnia and replaced the commanding general of the army.[3]
In December 1993, he was promoted to brigadier general and soon appointed military attaché at the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Switzerland in Bern.[1] During the war, he received offers fromMate Boban, President of theCroatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, andMilivoj Petković, Chief of the HVO General Staff, to join theCroatian Defence Council, but he refused such offers.
Šiber advocated a unified Bosnia and Herzegovina based on civic democracy.[2] During the war, he stated that "He was born a Croat by chance and could have been born a Gypsy ".[2] At the outbreak of theBosniak-Croatian conflict, he sided with the Muslim - Bosniak side and criticized theCroatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. After theWashington Agreement, Šiber advocated the abolition of theCroatian Defense Council, but was opposed by Alija Izetbegović.
On December 31, 1996, he learned through a television program that he had been forced into retirement.
In 2000, he was elected to theHouse of Representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[4] He was a member of theRepublican Party, together withStjepan Kljuić, a fellow wartime member of thePresidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Later, he moved to thePatriotic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina and became its vice president.
Stjepan Siber.
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