Milanović: What has DORH been doing for the last three years?

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović stated yesterday that he is interested in what the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia has done regarding the case of Josip Perković during the period from 2005 to 2008.

After informally meeting with Slovenian Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek in Opatija, Milanović answered several questions from journalists at their joint press conference, including whether he had received a report from the Chief State Attorney Mladen Bajić about the actions of DORH in the case of Josip Perković.

In this regard, he said that DORH is a system in which the head is the most responsible, but that Mladen Bajić does not need to send reports to the Prime Minister, as he provides them to the Croatian Parliament.

– What interests me is what DORH did in the three years from 2005 to 2008. In 2008, according to what we know, relative statute of limitations occurred in this case, and by 2004, more or less everything was known – he said. He emphasized that he is interested in what DORH did to prevent the statute of limitations, and if nothing was done, why that happened.

– DORH could have initiated an investigation, determined the truth about guilt or not, abandoned the investigation, but interrupted the statute of limitations so that we would not be discussing whether to prosecute in Germany because, by all accounts, both the victim and the alleged perpetrator are Croatian citizens – he said.

For the Prime Minister, it is a ‘political question what the then head of the intelligence service, and today’s politician, did to at least draw public attention to that serious trauma from Croatia’s past.’ He noted that he would not publicly speak about these issues but, he emphasized, ‘we will have to clarify some things, who does what job, why they do it, and with what motives.’

He explained that the amendments to the extradition law are motivated by the need to eliminate the possibilities of requesting the extradition of Croatian citizens for certain acts from the time of war within the framework of general jurisdiction, and that every normal state tries to obtain this type of protection for itself.

– In that case, it is good to hear the opinion of the European Commission (EC), but it is not final because there is also the European Court – said the Prime Minister and emphasized that there will be many misunderstandings with the EC, as the guardian of the treaties, in the coming period. The Prime Minister called on HDZ to submit an amendment to the changes to the Extradition Law.