The Austrian Constitutional Court rejected on Wednesday the appeal of retired Croatian General Vladimir Zagorec, who sought to prevent or delay his extradition to Croatia, which is seeking him for abuse of power and embezzlement of five million dollars, said court spokesman Christian Neuwirth to Hina.
"The Austrian Constitutional Court rejected the appeal of the defense of retired General Vladimir Zagorec, but the defense insisted that the Constitutional Court’s decision be forwarded to the Administrative Supreme Court of Austria, which we have done," said Neuwirth. "As far as the Constitutional Court of Austria is concerned, there are no obstacles to the extradition of Zagorec to Croatia," Neuwirth stated.
Zagorec (44) argued his request based on fears for his and his family’s lives in the event of extradition to Croatia. He stated that "there was nothing new in the appeal that three Austrian court instances had not already considered and approved the extradition."
"The decision has been made here. What the Administrative Supreme Court of Austria will decide, I cannot say, and we have delivered the appeal and the decision to them," said the spokesman of the Austrian Constitutional Court, Christian Neuwirth.
During the war in Croatia, Zagorec was responsible for supplying the Croatian Army with weapons, and Croatia accuses him of having embezzled jewels that were handed to him in 1993 by a German arms dealer as collateral for five million dollars intended for the purchase of weapons when he left his position as Assistant Minister of Defense in 2000.
Since he was arrested in Vienna in 2007 based on a Croatian international warrant, where he has lived for eight years, and subsequently released on bail, three Austrian court instances have already decided that Zagorec can be extradited to Croatia. (Hina)
