Retired general Jovo Kapičić died last night in Belgrade after a severe and short illness. Kapičić, participant of the National Liberation Struggle, socio-political worker, ambassador of the SFRY and national hero of Yugoslavia, is known for having coordinated the capture of the Chetnik leader Draža Mihailović as a general of the Udba. He was then sent to Montenegro, as the Minister of Internal Affairs, where he led the pursuit of Krsto Zrnov Popović.
After the resolution of Informbiro, as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Yugoslavia Aleksandar Ranković, he was in command duties in connection with Goli Otok, where political enemies of the former regime ended up, especially after the conflict between Tito and Stalin in 1948. Former inmate Vlado Dapčević, who wrote about it, wrote, "The fate of people depended on him."
He recently admitted that he proposed Goli Otok to be the place where the prison would be organized, but that he did it at "the request of my state and my government."
“I think it was a successful thing and that's how it was received. That's the only fact," he said then, calling the story of the horrors on Goli otok a "hoax" and a "sick master's trick."
Kapičić recently admitted that he proposed Goli otok to be the place where the prison would be organized
Kapičić recently denied involvement in the death of Chetniks in 1947, whose remains were found in the Mandića cave, on top of Vratilo on Mount Sinjajevini, claiming that the responsibility lies with the National Defense Corps of Yugoslavia (KNOJ). The Higher State Prosecutor's Office (VDT) launched an investigation after human remains were found in that cave a few days ago.
In October, Kapičić confirmed to "Vijesta" that he was in Sinjajevina in February of that year, but that he had nothing to do with that event.
"I have my own version of it. I came there in the morning to see who killed our five soldiers and returned in the afternoon to submit a report to the Government of Yugoslavia. Write all that I said," said Kapičić.
At the time of the breakup of Yugoslavia, in the early nineties, he opposed the policies of Slobodan Milošević and the subordinate role of Montenegro in relation to Serbia. Several books were published about Kapičić in previous years, in which he explained in detail the days of the partisan struggle, as well as his role then and after the war.
He came into the public spotlight after the attack on him in December 2011, when he was beaten in Belgrade.
Kapičić was born on September 2, 1919 in the city of Gaeta, in Italy, where at that time there was a large base of the escaped Montenegrin royal army after the Christmas Uprising of 1919, against the Karađorđević dynasty. Jov's father Milo graduated in theology and was a seminary professor, and in 1918 he was a Montenegrin comita and a member of the Montenegrin Federalist Party. Jovo Kapa grew up in Cetinje, where he completed elementary school and five grades of high school. In the sixth grade of high school, he was expelled from school because of his participation in the strike of high school students.
He was one of the last folk heroes from World War II.
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