Croatian Man Fired 14 Bullets at Woman, UK Judges Refuse to Extradite Him to Croatia

The Daily Mail published an article about 55-year-old Branko Lončar, a Serb from Croatia, whom Croatia requested the UK to extradite. However, British judges refused this request because "the killer has the right to a family life with his new partner, a Serb, in Great Britain," and they also believe too much time has passed since the event, making it "brutal" to return him to Croatia, reports the Patria News Agency.

The man who fired 14 shots at his wife while she was hanging with a noose around her neck will continue to live freely in Britain after a court refused to extradite him, writes the Daily Mail, adding that Lončar won a long battle against Croatia, which sought his return to serve a four-year sentence. Lončar claimed he did not intend to shoot his wife, even though he was only meters away from her. 

Lončar had previously been granted asylum, claiming he had to flee Croatia due to discrimination against Serbs, and his lawyers argued that locals would persecute him for the shooting. Lončar, a Serb and former member of the Yugoslav People's Army, lived in Ostrovo with his wife Mirjana and two sons. In 1994, his wife allegedly stood on a ladder with a noose around her neck and jumped, and he began shooting around from a distance of 3-4 meters, as he claims. The first pathologist, writes the Daily Mail, determined that his wife died of suffocation and was hit by bullets after death, so Lončar was acquitted, it was at a "Serbian court."

In 1999, Lončar went to Great Britain with his two sons, and Croatia initiated a new trial in 2000, and in a retrial, Lončar was sentenced to prison. Four doctors testified at the trial that his wife was alive when he shot her.

The Daily Mail writes that Lončar has had problems with alcohol since arriving in London in 1999. They also reveal that he does not live with the partner with whom he has allegedly been in a relationship since 2006.