Serbian ambassador Oliver Potezica passed away!

Serbian Ambassador to Libya Oliver Potezica died this morning, around 5 AM after a serious car accident he had a few days ago on a business trip in Tunisia.

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He was hospitalized in a hospital in Sousse.

Potezica was on an approved on a business trip to Tunis, necessary for the functioning of the embassy in Tripoli, said in a statement the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Potezica was alone in a car, and he drove off the road, there were no more injured people in this accident. He was immediately placed in the hospital in Sousse. After the accident where he suffered from numerous fractures and hematoma, he was in coma. 

Foto: pixabay.com, tripoli.mfa.gov.rs

The car which he drove was sent to expert examination to determine if someone caused the malfunction on purpose. The possibility that he was a target of terrorist or criminal attack is not excluded.

INCIDENT IN LIBYA 

After the kidnapping of two officials of the Embassy of Serbia in Libya, which is, as suspected, focused on the Serbian ambassador, Oliver Potezica reached the center of attention of domestic media.

On 8 November 2015 around 14.15 Libyan time, or about 13:15 Serbian time, at the exit of the Libyan city Sabrat, there was an attack on a convoy of three cars, in which there were two vehicles of the Serbian embassy in Tripoli and one car in which there was a Libyan citizen who has followed the column just for the purpose of security and easier passage.

Foto: Facebook/Slađana Stanković, Google maps, Tanjug/AP

The Ambassador was in the first vehicle, along with his wife and sons, aged 14 and eight, while driver of the embassy was in another car Jovica Stepic, and administrative attache of the Embassy of Sladjana Stankovic, who had been abducted.

- The attack took place when the attackers first staged a crash, they first hit the car of the embassy from behind, and when the driver went out to see what happened, they literally dragged him into one of the cars. At least two vehicles participated in the attack - said Potezica at the time.

According to him, the attackers asked Sladjana Stankovic to politely get out and enter the other car, and they literally vanished.

- In the mean time, while they were getting out, we stopped the first two cars and Libyan citizen, who was following, and me, ran towards the attackers, wanting to help and protect our people in trouble - said the ambassador.

Foto: Tanjug/Zoran Žestić

BIOGRAPHY OF AMBASSADOR

Potezica was born in 1953 in Prijepolje. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade in 1976 with an average of 9.25. He completed postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Law of 1985, graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences in 2006 and defended his master's thesis on the topic "Religious bases Organization of the Islamic Conference".

In his professional career, he went through all diplomatic ranks and worked in various organizational units of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the most in the Department of Middle East and Africa.

As a diplomat, he was serving in the Yugoslav Embassy in Iran from 1985 to 1990. He was the head of the mission and Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Yugoslavia in Jordan and Palestine (1996-2001). He spoke English, French and Farsi (Persian).

He is married and had five children from three marriages.

Foto: tripoli.mfa.gov.rs

He is the author of seven books and co-author of four in the field of international relations, foreign policy and diplomacy, history and the history of diplomacy. He has translated four books from English and one from Farsi/English. He published 122 professional and scientific studies from the same field, as well as 42 series of articles. More authors' studies on international issues translated into several foreign languages and published abroad.

Participated in numerous international conferences and scientific forums. He was a lecturer at several universities and colleges, as well as associate of multiple institutes and scientific institutions. He has worked with several foreign scientific institutions, particularly on issues related to Islam and the Middle East. She has received more foreign and domestic professional and scientific awards.

He was a member of the editorial boards of scientific journals and publications of "International Politics", "War work", "Third Program" ... He was also a member of the Association of Journalists of Serbia and before that a member of the Union of Journalists since 1983.

He has performed functions as a Vice President of Yugoslav-Arab Friendship Association, President of the Serbian-Libyan Friendship Association, member of the Managing Board of the Serbian-Syrian Friendship Association, a member of the Council of the Serbian-Iranian Friendship Society, and Honorary President of the Serbian-Palestinian Society of friendship.

Served as general secretary of the Center for the study of religion and religious tolerance from Belgrade, as well as many other functions in public and political life.

(Telegraf.co.uk)