Exactly one year after handing himself over to the British authorities at Charing Cross Station in London, the extradition of Ivica Todorić to Croatia to face trial for his alleged crimes in Agrokor, has finally happened.
To briefly recall, Ivica Todorić handed himself over to the British authorities following the issuing of a European Arrest Warrant by Croatia. The metropolitan police then detained Todorić as the warrant prescribed, before releasing him on bail after he paid the £100,000 fee. He continued to live at relative liberty in London for the next year, fighting his looming extradition.
Earlier this year, the British rejected Todorić's appeals and approved his extradition, and exactly one year to the day of his first contact with the London police, the British extradited him, on a regular Croatia Airlines flight, back to the Croatian capital, where the Croatian police awaited his arrival.
Well known N1 journalist Hrvoje Krešić tweeted yesterday afternoon that Todorić was in the process of transition and that he was expected in Croatia soon.
As Index writes on the 7th of November, 2018, at 16:45, HRT announced that Ivica Todorić had been seen at London Heathrow Airport.
The regular Croatia Airlines flight from London Heathrow was delayed as boarding took a while, and Todorić was the first to enter the aircraft with his police escorts. He was separated from other passengers, and his wife Vesna Todorić was not allowed to sit next to him.
His wife, Vesna, who had to leave her husband upon landing in Zagreb, was asked how she felt. She responded, visibly shaken: ''How would you feel if you were extradited? He's an innocent man. My husband is innocent, he hasn't stolen anything. I'm going home, and he's going to jail.''
Todorić himself remained calm, and was allegedly reading British newspapers and drinking Jana water on board. Although filming and taking photographs on the flight was strictly forbidden, upon being asked how he felt by journalists on the flight, he said that he ''felt good''.
The extradition of Ivica Todorić was nowhere near as eventful as many had hoped, and his flight ended up landing at Zagreb's Franjo Tudjman Airport at 20:58 last night, where a police transfer van was already waiting for him.
Todorić didn't leave the airport through the regular passenger terminal, and was arrested and escorted to the police van upon his arrival at Zagreb Airport, the police then took him straight to Remetinec prison.
To recall, official investigations against Ivica Todorić, his sons Ivan and Ante, and twelve of Agrokor's former managers and auditors were launched last year for the illegal obtaining of one billion and 142 million kuna from Agrokor, which almost dragged the Croatian economy to its knees. Click here for detailed information on exactly what happened within Agrokor, and get better acquainted with Todorić's situation up until now here.
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