Stjepan Đureković

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Stjepan Đureković
File:Stjepan Đureković.jpg
Stjepan Đureković
Born 1926
Bukovac, Syrmia Oblast, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Wolfratshausen, West Germany
Nationality Croatian

Stjepan Đureković (born 1926 – 28 July 1983) was a Croatian businessman, best known as the politically-appointed CEO of the state-owned INA petrol company.

In 1982 he defected to West Germany, becoming active in the Croatian nationalist émigré circles opposed to SFR Yugoslavia. It is suspected that he was assassinated by the Yugoslav State Security Service (UDBA).

Early life

Đureković was born in the village of Bukovac near Petrovaradin. During World War II he avoided service in the Independent State of Croatia's armed forces to join the Yugoslav Partisans.[1]

Business career in FPR/SFR Yugoslavia

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. After the war he rose to a position within INA.[1]

Relocation to West Germany

After falling out with the government he defected to West Germany in 1982 where he became involved with the Croatian National Committee, a Croat nationalist organization.[1] Together with Ivan Botić he published Yugoslavia in crisis, in which the two argued that Yugoslavia's large inflation rate and unemployment was resulting in the exploitation of Croatian resources.[2][3]

Assassination

Đureković was assassinated in Wolfratshausen by UDBA agents in 1983 in the action with codenamed Operation Dunav.[1][4]

His remains were reburied at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery in 1999.[5]

In 2005, Germany put out an arrest warrant on Josip Perković for his involvement in the assassination.[6] Krunoslav Prates has also been put on trial on charges relating to the crime.[7] Some Serbian sources have linked his assassination to Željko "Arkan" Ražnatović, a career criminal known to be contracted by SDB in various operations during the 1970s and 1980s.[citation needed] The German court trying Prates has threatened to take action against Croatian officials who have obstructed Croatian testimony at the trial, including Croatian president Stjepan Mesić.[8]

In 2008 Krunoslav Prates was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the murder.[9] In 2009, the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany issued warrants for Zdravko Mustač, Josip Perković, Ivan Cetinić, Ivan Lasić and Boris Brnelić for their involvement in the murder as members of the UDBA.[10] In October 2009 German police arrested Luka Sekula, a Croat with Swedish citizenship, for participation in the murder.[11][12] In the morning of 1 January 2014 Josip Perković was arrested in Zagreb. The trial to Perković is conducted in Germany since the mid 2014.[13]

See also

References