Požega – “I am dissatisfied and embittered by the fact that the Croatian judiciary bodies have hereto neither indicted Milivoj Ašner, nor asked for his extradition from Austria , where he currently resides. And keep in mind that on June 30 th last year, we delivered all the documentation about Ašner along with the names of 16 witnesses. It is unthinkable that this man, who is suspected of serious crimes, sits quietly in his home in Klagenfurt and laughs at the Croatian judiciary system”, said Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which researches the fate of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and seeks to reveal the current whereabouts of Nazi war criminals through its “Last Chance” project.

Zuroff visited Požega on Monday where he met with the mayor Zdravko Ronko, and later with authorities at the court, in order to find out what is happening with the Ašner case.

To refresh your memories, Milivoj Ašner, 92 years-old, is suspected of committing war crimes against Jews while serving as chief of police in Požega from 1941 to 1942. The case of Ašner was discovered by 27 year-old Alen Budaj who researched the history of the Jewish community of Požega. Even though the Simon Wiesenthal Center already a year ago presented a request for a criminal investigation against Ašner, the County Court in Požega only completed its investigation against him at the beginning of May this year, and has still not requested his extradition. Ašner fled to Austria after WWII where he lived quietly for years, until he returned to Croatia , to Daruvar, in 1991. However, exactly on the day when the Simon Wiesenthal Center submitted its request for a criminal investigation against him, he fled to Austria and now lives in Klagenfurt with his son.

“Even though all this is known, until today no one from the competent authorities have spoken to Ašner, and he is unavailable to the Croatian police. He is elderly, and it is high time for him to be prosecuted while it is still possible”, said Zuroff.

And while unavailable to Croatian police, he continues to give interviews to Croatian right-wing newspapers. “We are upset by the fact that Ašner speaks as if it is still 1941, i.e. that his attitudes are the same”, says Zuroff adding that the Holocaust happened in Croatia and that the past cannot be denied.

“The prosecution of war criminals from WWII is a test for every government. Those governments which do not want to face their past and apologize for the crimes exhibit the lowest degree of democracy”, says Zuroff, who announced that he will be meeting with President Stjepan Mesic and Attorney-General Mladen Bajic on Tuesday.

The Austrian government is .now responsible for the Ašner case. All the pertinent documentation was sent there on May 2 nd this year in response to an Austrian request for judicial assistance in this case, which was submitted at the end of January 2004, as confirmed by Minister of Justice Vesna Škare-Ožbolt. The Croatian Ministry of Justice received, at the end of April this year, an investigation request and copies of all the documentation about Ašner that was in the County Court in Požega. The county attorney in Požega submitted an investigation request in March against Ašner for war crimes.