Croatian Court Reduces Yugoslav Spy Chief’s Murder Sentence

Velika Gorica County Court decided on Wednesday to reduce the life sentence handed down in Munich in Germany to former Yugoslav State Security Service official Zdravko Mustac to 40 years in jail.

The court cited the fact that Croatia's criminal code does not include life imprisonment and prescribes a maximum jail term of 40 years.

Zdravko Mustac, alongside with Josip Perkovic, was sentenced to life in prison in August 2016 for abetting the murder of émigré Stjepan Djurekovic in 1983 in Wolfsrathausen near Munich, in a garage where he printed anti-Yugoslav propaganda material.

Mustac headed the Croatian branch of the Yugoslav State Security Service at the time, while Perkovic was chief of its department responsible for émigrés.

The court found that Mustac gave orders to Perkovic to organise the assassination of Djurekovic in 1983.

The alleged motive for ordering the murder was Djurekovic's criticism of the Communist regime in Yugoslavia.

The extradition of Perkovic and Mustac to Germany was a long and politically controversial process.

Both of them appealed against their convictions, but the appeals were dismissed in May last year.

In November, they also filed a lawsuit against Germany at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, claiming that the Munich court did not treat them fairly during the trial.

In December, Zagreb County Court decided to convert Perkovic's life sentence to 30 years in jail.

Perkovic and Mustac are both still in prison in Germany, awaiting transfer to Croatia from a German prison. They will serve out the rest of their sentences in Croatia.

Earlier this month, Mustac's defence launched a case against Croatia at the European Court of Human Rights over his extradition to...