Jusuf Prazina, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetJusuf Prazina
Bosnian mobster
Date of Birth: 07-Sep-1962
Place of Birth: Sarajevo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Date of Death: 04-Dec-1993
Profession: military leader
Nationality: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Zodiac Sign: Virgo 
About Jusuf Prazina
- Jusuf "Juka" Prazina (pronounced [jusuf jûka prazina]; 7 September 1962 – 3/4 December 1993) was a Bosnian gangster and paramilitary warlord during the Bosnian War. A troubled teen, Prazina's youth allegedly contained numerous stays in various jails and correctional facilities of the former Yugoslavia.
- By the 1980s he had become involved in organized crime, eventually heading his own racketeering gang based around his home in the city's Centar municipality. With the onset of the Siege of Sarajevo in 1992 Prazina expanded his gang into an effective paramilitary fighting force.
- This force was central in the effort against the besieging Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), and he was rewarded for his contribution to the city's defense by appointment to the head of the government's special forces.
- Prazina proved problematic for the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following a warrant for his arrest in October, Prazina stationed himself on Mount Igman and coordinated attacks against the ARBiH until his eventual defeat and expulsion in January of the following year.
- Prazina moved to Herzegovina where he joined forces with the Croatian Defence Council and committed numerous crimes against civilians in the region.
- He left Bosnia and Herzegovina a few months later for Croatia, and lived on the Dalmatian coast before traveling through a number of European countries and finally relocating to Belgium. He was found dead in a canal near the German border by two hitch-hikers on 31 December 1993.
- In 2001, documents detailing wartime conversations between then president of Croatia Franjo Tudman and president of the Croatian parliament Stjepan Mesic were declassified.
- In one part of these documents, Mesic revealed his suspicions that Bosnian Croat extremists were to blame for Prazina’s death.
- The most concrete links came from an unsuccessful six-year investigation by the Bavarian Criminal Police.
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