Slobodan Praljak (2 January 1945 – 29 November 2017) was a Bosnian Croat general who served in the Croatian Army and the Croatian Defence Council, an army of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia, between 1992 and 1995. Praljak was found guilty of committing violations of the laws of war, crimes against humanity and breaches of the Geneva Conventions during the Croat–Bosniak War by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2017.

Slobodan Praljak was born on 2 January 1945 in Čapljina. His father Mirko worked for Yugoslav security agency OZNA. He attended high school in Široki Brijeg with the future Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Šušak. Praljak had three university degrees. In 1970, he graduated as an electrical engineer at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Zagreb with a GPA of 4.5/5. In 1971, he graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, majoring in philosophy and sociology. In 1972, he graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art. At first, he worked as a professor and manager of the electronics laboratory at the Nikola Tesla Vocational High School in Zagreb, then lectured on philosophy and sociology, and since 1973 was a freelance artist. Praljak was also a theater director in theaters in Zagreb, Osijek and Mostar. He directed the television series Blesan i Tulipan, television dramas Novela od Stanca and Sargaško more, documentaries Smrt psa (1980), Sandžak and Duhan (both in 1990), and film Povratak Katarine Kožul (1989).