ZAGREB, 19 April 2022 - Lawyer Anto Nobilo formally asked the Ministry of Justice and Administration on Tuesday to pardon Yugoslav-era intelligence officials Josip Perković and Zdravko Mustač, who have been sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles in the murder of a political emigrant in Germany 39 years ago.

"I do not know what President Zoran Milanović will decide, but I do know that Franjo Tuđman, if he were still alive, would pardon them both and (the late defence minister) Gojko Šušak would be the first on the list of generals to sign it," Nobilo told the press.

Perković and Mustač's legal representative said he no longer had an active role in this case and that they would have to wait for a decision on a possible pardon. He said he expected the decision to be made within a reasonable period of time, "a week or two."

Nobilo said he was aware of Milanović's statement that generally he would not sign a pardon, adding that there was a possibility of an exception.

The lawyer said this case was an exception because Perković and Mustač had found themselves caught between "non-harmonised German and Croatian judicial systems."

He said they would have been sentenced to 15 years in prison had they been tried in Croatia. "When an injustice is done in legitimate proceedings, there is the institute of pardon to ensure justice in exceptional cases."

A letter of support for a pardon has been signed by retired Croatian Army generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak, Ljubo Ćesić Rojs, Pavao Miljavac, Davor Domazet Lošo and Marinko Krešić, Krešić has later withdrawn his signature, as did General Krešimir Ćosić before him.

Media say that the retired generals believe Perković and Mustač deserve a pardon on account of their contribution to the defence of Croatia during the 1991-1995 Homeland War.

President Milanović's Office said they had received the request for a pardon this morning and that the President would speak to the generals, but there would be no special meeting on this matter.

Perković and Mustač were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Munich court in August 2016 for aiding and abetting in the murder of Croatian political emigrant Stjepan Đureković in Wolfratshausen, outside Munich, on 28 July 1983.

At the time relevant to the indictment, Mustač was the political chief of the State Security Service in Zagreb, while Perković headed a department dealing with political emigrants. In the spring of 1982, Mustač ordered Perković to prepare the murder of Đureković in Germany.

ZAGREB, 19 April 2022 - War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved said on Tuesday the process of collecting generals' signatures and a motion for the pardon of Josip Perković and Zdravko Mustač were "created" by President Zoran Milanović's Office and Perković's attorney Anto Nobilo.

"I hope that, in signing, the generals received more information about the motives and goals of collecting the signatures and that they will say more about it, as well as the attorney and the President's Office staff," Medved told the press.

He said this was a political initiative started by Nobilo by applying for an early release from prison. The generals who supported the initiative had a noble goal, he added.

Medved said some generals recognised the contribution of Perković and Mustač to the Homeland War as a mitigating circumstance, but added that this contribution could in no way absolve them of the crimes they had committed while working for the former Yugoslav secret service UDBA.

"In particular, it can't absolve them of the sentence delivered in Germany," Medved said about the life sentence the two received for participating in the murder of Croatian dissident Stjepan Đureković in Germany in 1983.

Medved said the decision to pardon Perković and Mustač was up to Milanović, recalling that in his presidential campaign he said he would not pardon anyone.

The minister said that since a letter in which several generals supported the pardon of Perković and Mustač appeared, he had received thousands of messages from Homeland War veterans and families whose members were killed by UDBA.

They are extremely displeased and expect there will be no pardon, he said, adding that this is causing divisions in society, notably among war veterans.

ZAGREB, 19 April 2022 - The initiative to pardon Yugoslav and then Croatian intelligence agents Josip Perković and Zdravko Mustač did not come from Homeland War generals but President Zoran Milanović, the ruling HDZ party said on Tuesday.

A source close to the HDZ leadership said "Milanović's initiative unnecessarily divides society and brings unrest among generals and war veterans" as well as "double criteria" towards participants in the Homeland War and the veterans.

The source said a pardon had not been requested for even one veteran for his contribution to Croatia's defence, yet was now being requested for persons proven to have ordered crimes committed by the former Yugoslav secret police.

The source said the argument that Perković and Mustač should be released from prison because of their contribution to the creation of the Croatian state was not convincing because they were sentenced for crimes which had nothing to do with that.

On the contrary, the source said, those crimes were committed in the name of the services of the former Yugoslavia, "which negated Croatia's freedom and of which Croatia became independent in 1991."

The source said they agreed with Justice Minister Ivan Malenica's statement that Milanović would have a lot to explain if he decided that Perković and Mustač should be the only persons pardoned in his term.

That would be a precedent, the source said, adding that the two "are in the very early stage" of serving their sentences, that they were "sentenced for the gravest crimes" and that the verdict, which found them responsible for the murder of a Croatian dissident in Germany in 1983, was not disputed by anyone, even the generals in a letter requesting that they be pardoned.

HDZ official Mario Kapulica said the argument that without Perković there would have been neither Croatia nor its first president Franjo Tuđman was not new.

He said the initiative to have Perković and Mustač pardoned was "legally questionable and, at least for now, politically totally unclear," and that it was "probably" encouraged by Milanović.

Perković and Mustač, former Yugoslav and Croatian intelligence officials, were sentenced by a German court in August 2016 to life for assisting in the murder of Croatian dissident Stjepan Đureković in Germany in July 1983. Last week, their attorney Anto Nobilo announced pardon motions.

ZAGREB, 16 April 2022 - Justice Minister Ivan Malenica said on Saturday that President Zoran Milanović would set a precedent if he pardoned Josip Perković and Zdravko Mustač because, since taking office, he had not responded to the 274 pardon applications sent him by the ministry.

Speaking to Hina, Malenica said that in a little over two years the ministry had sent 274 pardon applications to the President's Office, enclosing reports prepared by the ministry based on the Pardons Act.

Until now, the president has not exercised his constitutional power to pardon someone and if this happens now, it would be a precedent in Milanović's term, he added.

Malenica said that during his presidential campaign, Milanović said the pardon institute was a relict of the past which he would not use. "If this has happened now, it's up to President Milanović to explain his political decision to pardon someone."

Malenica went on to say that in taking over the sentences against Mustač and Perković, Croatian courts had acted in line with the law "because the proceedings were upheld at all levels of the judicial authority and the decisions are final."

"This is the very early stage of serving a prison sentence for the gravest crimes," he added.

Perković and Mustač, former Yugoslav and Croatian intelligence officials, were sentenced by a German court in August 2016 to life for assisting in the murder of Croatian dissident Stjepan Đureković in Germany in July 1983. On Tuesday, their attorney Anto Nobilo announced pardon motions.

Explaining the procedure, Malenica said the motion was submitted to the Justice Ministry, which requested from the prison and the relevant judge all relevant information for writing a report on the motion.

According to the media, Nobilo's motion is to be signed by retired generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak, Ljubo Ćesić Rojs, Pavao Miljavac, Davor Domazet Lošo, and Marinko Krešić, who has said he is considering withdrawing his signature, which general Krešimir Ćosić has already done.

The media have reported that the generals feel that Perković and Mustač deserve to be pardoned because of their contribution to the creation of the Croatian state and its defence.

Germany requested their extradition from Croatia as Croatia was entering the EU, which took place in July 2013, whereby Croatia assumed the obligation to execute the European Arrest Warrant.

After the warrant for them was issued, the Croatian parliament passed a law on judicial cooperation in criminal matters with EU member states, under which the EAW would not apply to crimes committed prior to 7 August 2002. This prevented the extradition of Perković, so the law was dubbed Lex Perković.

Despite that, Croatian courts extradited Perković and Mustač to Germany. Due to Lex Perković, as the then prime minister, Milanović suffered major political damage.

Under the Pardons Act, the president pardons persons convicted by Croatian courts or serving sentences in Croatia. The presidential pardon is not conditioned by the length of the sentence served.

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