Lex Perković is being amended through an urgent procedure. The Government is sending it to the Parliament from today’s session so that, in accordance with yesterday’s agreement with Brussels, it comes into force no later than the beginning of next year.
The Government explains that these amendments alone cannot ensure the extradition of former Yugoslav secret service official Josip Perković to Germany, where the judiciary accuses him of organizing the murder of Croatian emigrant Stjepan Đureković.
Namely, the law retains a provision according to which the court must reject the request for extradition for criminal offenses for which the statute of limitations has expired in Croatia, and the Government states that this article is fully in line with European legal standards and has not been a subject of dispute with the European Commission. They emphasize that the same rule applies in another 13 EU member states, including Germany.
They also claim that Perković’s extradition is only possible if the Constitution is amended, so the Government will today express its opinion on the SDP’s proposal for constitutional changes that would abolish the statute of limitations for politically motivated murders.
The Government is satisfied with the achieved compromise with the European Commission, according to which Croatia will apply the European arrest warrant without restrictions no later than January 1, 2014, and not from July 15. They emphasize that the agreement was reached a week ago in a conversation between Prime Minister Zoran Milanović and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.
