GREECE: COASTGUARDS ARREST CROATIAN BUSINESSMAN SUSPECTED OF HELPING FUGITIVE GENERAL AVOID DETENTION FOR WAR CRIMES INDICTMENT
Record ID:
649253
GREECE: COASTGUARDS ARREST CROATIAN BUSINESSMAN SUSPECTED OF HELPING FUGITIVE GENERAL AVOID DETENTION FOR WAR CRIMES INDICTMENT
- Title: GREECE: COASTGUARDS ARREST CROATIAN BUSINESSMAN SUSPECTED OF HELPING FUGITIVE GENERAL AVOID DETENTION FOR WAR CRIMES INDICTMENT
- Date: 7th October 2005
- Summary: (W4) IGOUMENITSA, GREECE (AUGUST 31 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SLV COAST GUARD HEADQUARTERS AT PORT WHERE PETRAC BEING HELD 0.04 2. SLV ENTRANCE TO HEADQUARTERS 0.15 3. SLV COAST GUARD VEHICLE DRIVING BY; SCU PLAQUE 0.26 4. SLV PASSENGER SHIP THAT TRAVELS TO ITALY IN PORT, SUCH AS THE ONE THAT PETRAC WAS ON WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED (4 SHOTS) 0.48 5. MV /SLV PASSENGERS BOARDING SHIP 0.59 6. SLV OFFICE OF PASSENGER SHIP COMPANY AT IGOUMENITSA PORT 1.04 7. (SOUDNBITE)(GREEK) PASSENGER SHIP COMPANY EMPLOYEE ALIKI XANTHAKI WHO WITNESSED THE ARREST SAYING, "They informed us that a suspect wanted on an international arrest warrant was on the ship. Coast guard security officials had already boarded the ship in Patras and they followed it here to Igoumenitsa. When it arrived in Igoumenitsa coast guard security boarded the ship and brought him down, the arrest was made here." 1.30 8. SLV COAST GUARD VEHICLE IN FRONT OF PASSENGER SHIP 1.35 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 22nd October 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: IGOUMENITSA, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Reuters ID: LVAMVZ60TTH0E0HX283HL893EVK
- Story Text: Greek coastguards arrest a Croatian businessman suspected of helping a fugitive general avoid detention for a war crimes indictment.
Coastguards in Greece have arrested a Croatian
businessman wanted by police for kidnap. Hrvoje Petrac is
also suspected of helping a fugitive general avoid arrest
for a war crimes indictment.
Police said Petrac, a 50-year-old businessman, was
detained at the western Greek port of Igoumenitsa, on board
a passenger ship bound for Italy.
He is wanted in Croatia for masterminding the
kidnapping of a 12-year-old child and extorting money from
his wealthy family. An international arrest warrant was
issued last year.
An employee of the passenger ship company at
Igoumenitsa port who witnessed the event said the boat
originated from the Greek port of Patras and made a stop in
Igoumenitsa before it was to continue to Italy. Petrac was
already on board and was being tracked from Patras, she
said.
Croatia suspects that Petrac is a top member of the
support network that has helped fugitive General Ante
Gotovina avoid arrest since the U.N. war crimes tribunal in
The Hague indicted him in July 2001 for atrocities in
Croatia's 1991-95 war of independence.
The European Union banned Petrac and four other Croats
also suspected of helping Gotovina from entering the bloc
last year, to put pressure on his support network.
Police would not say whether Petrac, currently being
interrogated at the port of Igoumenitsa, would be
transferred to Athens for further questioning and it was
not clear whether he would be extradited to Croatia.
Early this year the war crimes tribunal's chief
prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, accused Zagreb of lacking the
political will to crack down on Gotovina's supporters and
find him, and Brussels put off Croatia's EU membership
talks, due to start in March.
After the EU rebuff in March, Croatian Prime Minister
Ivo Sanader devised an "Action Plan" to disable Gotovina's
support network and prove Zagreb was cooperating with the
tribunal.
Gotovina disappeared to avoid his indictment, which
charges him with responsibility for the murder of 150 Serb
civilians, looting and destruction during and after a 1995
government offensive to retake land held by Serb rebels.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None