Madam War Criminal

Description

In 2001, Biljana Plavšić made history. Indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, she became the only female political leader ever prosecuted for mass atrocities. By the time the Tribunal closed in 2017, after 24 years in operation, she remained the only woman among the 161 people it had indicted.

Charged by the Tribunal for genocide and crimes against humanity, Plavšić’s plea bargain made her the first woman to be convicted by an international court since Nuremberg. The only comparably senior Bosnian Serb politician to be sentenced was Radovan Karadžić himself—President to Plavšić’s Vice-President in Bosnia’s autonomous Republika Srpska, a role she then took over after the Bosnian peace. Yet until the Yugoslav Wars erupted in 1991, Plavšić had been an internationally renowned scientist and faculty dean at the University of Sarajevo, with over 100 journal articles to her name.

Now in her 90s, and a free woman, Plavšić is also the Tribunal’s oldest convicted defendant. Olivera Simić’s gripping book is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with a stridently unrepentant war criminal, recorded over seven years. How did this biology professor end up running a vengeful ethno-nationalist movement that killed tens of thousands?

Reviews

‘A fascinating, insightful and thought-provoking book which takes you into the mind of the only woman convicted by the Yugoslavia tribunal. It is beautifully written … and is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in the causes of mass violence.’ — Alette Smeulers, Professor in International Crimes, University of Groningen, and author of Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities: Terribly and Terrifyingly Normal?

‘Based on hours of candid interviews with Biljana Plavšić, Simić presents a multi-faceted and layered account of a strong woman in conflict, war, and when facing justice. This is an achievement on a par with Gita Sereny’s biography of Albert Speer, enhancing our understanding of war, violence and guilt.’ — Susanne Karstedt, Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University

‘A complex and unsettling portrait of a convicted war criminal, challenging conventional understandings of political complicity. Rather than focusing on direct acts of violence, Simić shifts attention to the bureaucratic and ideological mechanisms that enable atrocity. Plavšić’s role, shaped as much by ego and political expediency as by ideology, raises urgent questions about how power legitimises violence—not through the sword, but through the pen. What distinguishes Simić’s approach is its unsettling intimacy. By constructing Plavšić’s image through personal interactions—tea, cookies and quiet conversation—the author forces readers into a shared space of contradiction and discomfort. The encounter serves as a proxy for our own moral reckoning, compelling us to confront the paradox of proximity: How do we process the humanity of those whose actions produce inhumanity?’ — Kjell Anderson, Associate Professor of Law, University of Manitoba

Author(s)

Olivera Simić is Professor at Griffith University’s Law School, specialising in transitional justice, international law, gender and crime. She has authored or co-edited twelve books. Her latest, Lola’s War: Rape Without Punishment, about sexual violence in the Yugoslav Wars, was shortlisted for the Australian Legal Research Book Award.