Former Croatian Minister of Veterans: I killed such people in Bosnia

The Croatian weekly „Nacional“ writes that former Croatian Minister of Veterans Mijo Crnoja pressed a pistol to the forehead of bus driver Stjepan Horvat, and then told him he would blow his brains out if he moved.

- I killed such people in Bosnia – Crnoja said. Nacional writes that these shocking details are revealed in court documents from the legal proceedings conducted against Crnoja at the Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court.

According to the contents of those court documents, the former minister of veterans with the shortest tenure in the Croatian government got off unpunished in that case not because these scandalous threats did not occur, but because the entire case went into absolute statute of limitations. The statute of limitations occurred primarily because Mijo Crnoja successfully evaded the judicial authorities for many years, who could not serve him a summons for a hearing because he had registered residences at addresses where he never lived.

By reviewing the court documents, Nacional journalists also discovered shocking testimonies from two bus drivers who testified before the judge that even four years after the incident, they still suffer psychological consequences due to the severity of the attack.

On June 15, 1999, in the early morning hours at the Zagreb bus station, Crnoja attacked bus driver Stjepan Horvat, who was supposed to hand him an envelope sent to Crnoja by his brother. After the attack, Crnoja fled the bus station, and Horvat reported everything to the police.

After some time, the State Attorney's Office initiated criminal proceedings against Crnoja, but hearings did not take place because no one knew where Crnoja was. The court documents show that the court attempted to reach Crnoja several times, but even with police assistance, it did not succeed, Patria reports.