Goran Hadzic was one of the leaders of a Serb insurgency in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 following the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation.
Riding a surge of nationalism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he rose from working as a clerk in a factory warehouse to become prime minister and president of a self-proclaimed Serb republic in Croatia from 1991 to 1993. During his time in office, ethnic Serbs, backed by Slobodan Milosevic's regime in Yugoslavia, gained control over one-third of Croatian territory.
Hadzic worked closely with criminal gangs that made huge profits from smuggled cars, gasoline and cigarettes. He also cooperated with paramilitary forces that became notorious for their brutality, including the "Tigers" led by the man known as Arkan.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia wants him on charges of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war targeting non-Serbs in areas under Serb control in Croatia.
His indictment contains 14 counts, including persecution; extermination and murder; imprisonment; torture, and inhumane acts.
His alleged crimes include the October 1991 execution of 264 Croatian prisoners in Vukovar, a town in eastern Croatia destroyed in a two-month siege early in the war.
After the war ended in 1995, Hadzic moved to Serbia and lived there freely until July 16, 2004, when the international tribunal called for his arrest. Since 2000, Serbia has arrested and extradited 45 people to The Hague.
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR
