Background
Jokić was born in Serbia and educated in the Yugoslav military-naval academy.
Jokić was born in Serbia and educated in the Yugoslav military-naval academy.
The International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) sentenced him to 7 years in prison for murder, cruel treatment, attacks on civilians, devastation, unlawful attacks on civilian objects, destruction or wilful damage done to institutions in Dubrovnik. In 1991, after serving as an officer for a number of years, he was promoted to Vice Admiral and then to the Commander of the 9th VPS of the Yugoslav navy. After Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia that year, the Yugoslav Army invaded the Dubrovnik area and started a three-month siege in order to keep that territory under Yugoslav control.
The siege failed and the army had to retreat, while the international community condemned the attacks.
In 2001, the ICTY charged Jokić, Pavle Strugar, Milan Zec and Vladimir Kovačević on several counts. These included violations of the customs of war and attacks on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization heritage site of the Old Town.
Strugar and Jokić voluntarily surrendered to the court, becoming the first Serbian or Montenegrin citizens to do southern His surrender sparked protests in Serbia.
On 1 April 2003, Jokić pleaded guilty to six counts in his second indictment and thus no trial was necessary.
He admitted his guilt and expressed his remorse for his actions in Dubrovnik:
The Trial Chamber in its Judgement has paid considerable attention to the crime of destruction or wilful damage done to institutions dedicated to religion, charity, education, and the arts and sciences, and to historic monuments and works of art and science. The Trial Chamber has found that this is a crime representing a violation of an especially protected value. The crime was particularly serious in the present case because the Old Town of Dubrovnik was, in its entirety, listed as a protected United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization site.
Residential buildings within the city were therefore especially protected, together with the rest of the site, as an outstanding architectural site illustrating a significant stage in the history of humankind.