Philippe Sands & Olivera Simić in conversation - Gower Street

The new book by Olivera Simić - Madam War Criminal: Biljana Plavšić, Serbia’s Iron Lady

In 2001, Biljana Plavšić made history: she became the only female political leader ever prosecuted for mass atrocities. She was the one woman among 161 indictees at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia—and the first since Nuremberg to be convicted by an international court.

Charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, Plavšić took a plea bargain. Just one other Bosnian Serb politician at her level was sentenced: Radovan Karadžić himself, President to Plavšić’s Vice-President in the autonomous Republika Srpska. Yet before the conflict, Plavšić had been a globally renowned scientist at the University of Sarajevo, penning journal articles and serving as faculty dean.

The bestselling book out in paperback – 38 Londres Street by Phillipe Sands:

Through this captivating blend of memoir, travelogue, detective story, and courtroom drama, the award-winning author of East West Street and The Last Colony chronicles the entwining stories of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and senior SS officer Walther Rauff in a powerful examination of historical atrocities and the search for justice.

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.

Professor Philippe Sands is an award-winning British-French author, lawyer and academic specialising in international law. Best known for his bestselling, Baillie Gifford Prize-winning East West Street

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