Croatia extradites former spy chief to Germany

Iran Press TV

Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:29AM GMT

A former Yugoslav spy chief has been extradited to Germany for his alleged role in the murder of a political dissident on German soil more than three decades ago.

Croatia's HINA news agency reported that former spy chief Zdravko Mustac, accompanied by German police, left the Croatian capital city of Zagreb on a regular Lufthansa flight for Munich on Thursday.

German federal prosecutors say Mustac is suspected of "colluding in the murder of Yugoslav dissident Stjepan Durekovic," who was killed on July 28, 1983, near Munich.

Germany was seeking Mustac under the European Arrest Warrant, which regulates extradition between European Union (EU) member states.

Earlier in January, Croatia extradited Mustac's deputy Josip Perkovic to Germany over his alleged role in the 1983 murder in German town of Wolfratshausen.

Croatian police arrested Perkovic and extradited him to Germany after Zagreb lifted a limitation it had previously imposed on extraditions with the EU.

Croatia had changed its laws a few days before it joined the bloc in July last year, effectively stopping an extradition of Perkovic.

The move caused Brussels to threaten Zagreb with sanctions from EU, starting with 80 million euros ($110 million) in finance aid for 2014 aimed at improving the country's border controls.

Following the dispute with the bloc, Croatia bowed to pressure and amended the law in October, paving the way for the arrest and the likely extradition of suspects on European warrants.

Analysts have speculated that Croatia was reluctant to extradite the two former top spies as they could have compromising information on influential people with the country's politics and society.

The Croatian government, however, has said its intention with the limitation was to protect those who participated in the 1990s independence war from being investigated by the EU.

MOS/NN