After nine months of trial at the Zagreb County Court, the verdict was announced for six defendants charged with the murder of Ivo Pukanić and Niko Franjić, reports hrt.hr
All defendants were found guilty. Robert Matanić was sentenced to 33 years in prison, Luka Matanić to 16 years, Amir Mafalani to 16 years, Željko Milovanović to 40 years, Bojan Gudurić to 30 years, and Slobodan Đurović to 15 years. Ivo Pukanić was killed on October 23, 2008, by an explosive device hidden in a scooter in the parking lot next to the editorial office of the weekly Nacional, which he founded. As a collateral victim, his associate Niko Franjić was killed, and two other people were injured. However, USKOK expanded the indictment at the end of the trial, stating that members of the alleged criminal organization planned the murders of Hrvoje and Novica Petrača.
After a year-long investigation, on October 26, 2009, USKOK filed an indictment against Robert and Luka Matanić, Amir Mafalani, Željko Milovanović, Bojan Gudurić, and Slobodan Đurović, charging them not only with murders for gain but also with serious criminal offenses against general safety and association in a criminal organization. According to the indictment, Pukanić’s murder was organized to prevent him from disclosing information in the media in Croatia and neighboring countries about the activities of several criminal groups in those areas. The criminal organization that liquidated him was allegedly organized in Serbia in the first half of 2008 by Sreten Jocić, who paid 1.5 million euros for Pukanić’s murder. His godfather Slobodan Đurović was charged with the connection between Jocić and the immediate executors. During the trial, which began on February 3, numerous expert evaluations were conducted, recordings, conversations, and SMS messages of the defendants, as well as the murdered Pukanić, were reviewed, and numerous witnesses were examined. (www.hrt.hr)
