It seems that not even raping someone is an obstacle for a successful career in Croatian politics.
Joso Mraović, a local politician from Lika who is also known under the nickname “Lika Tuđman” due to his influence in the region, and who taught Croatia what “the Lika handshake” means, a convicted rapist sentenced to two years in prison, has returned to HDZ. He has reactivated his party membership and is now again an active party member, reports Index.hr on August 14, 2018.
Mraović was sentenced to prison for raping an American basketball player. The information was confirmed to Jutarnji List by HDZ commissioner in Gospić Ivan Radošević.
American basketball player Ilisha Jarrett reported in April 2005 that Mraović had raped her. According to media reports at the time, the police immediately made a mistake which revealed the victim's identity and description of the criminal offense. In the following weeks, Mraović said he was innocent and that he was a victim of a conspiracy against him. Mraović was arrested but was released after an interrogation, while the County State Attorney's Office in Gospić did not seek his detention. Only after the case was taken over by the Rijeka prosecution office was Mraović detained, with an official investigation initiated against him.
However, the culmination of the whole farce came with the explanation of a verdict issued by Judge Branko Milanović, who initially ruled that Mraović was innocent, explaining that pushing a finger in an anus cannot be equalled to rape since no sexual organs were used. “In this case, neither the finger nor the anus have the properties of sexuality if they are in contact, since neither the finger nor the anus are sex organs, so their contact does not constitute sexual activity and it cannot be equated with sexual intercourse... In the Croatian language, it is known exactly what a sexual intercourse is, it is known exactly what a sexual act is, and nobody can describe anything else as sexual activity,” explained Milanović.
Milanović even went so far as to compare the act with a handshake, which gave Gospić an eternal glory as the town which invented the “Lika handshake.”
The Supreme Court of Croatia squashed the initial verdict made by the County Court in Gospić, which acquitted Mraović of raping the US basketball player. In its explanation, the Supreme Court found that the first instance court had wrongly ruled that violently pushing a finger in an anus was not equal to sexual intercourse.
Angry with the verdict, Mraović said that “this is a shame and has no chance to pass,” and he accused the judge of issuing the verdict “under pressure from media and politics.” He also accused the basketball player of “inventing the whole case because she wanted to leave Gospić and the local basketball club.”
The Supreme Court later reduced his sentence to two years in prison. Mraović was eventually in prison for 20 months.
At the court hearings, Mraović often insulted the journalists, describing them as “whores who hate this country and this people.” He also told reporters that they are “a gang that has nothing to do but ruin everything that is Croatian.” He also entertained himself by throwing animal bones in front of journalists. Before a court hearing, Mraović showed his knowledge of “foreign languages” by barking at journalists.
Translated from Index.hr.
