Stjepan Đureković (8 August 1926 – 28 July 1983) was a Croatian political dissident and businessman who was assassinated by the Yugoslavian State Security Administration (UDBA) in West Germany in 1983. He was previously the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the state-owned INA petrol company. In 1982, he

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to West Germany and became active in Croatian émigré circles opposed to

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

Early life

Đureković was born in Bukovac near

Petrovaradin Petrovaradin ( sr-cyr, Петроварадин, ) is a historic town in the Serbian province of Vojvodina, now a part of the city of Novi Sad. As of 2011, the urban area has 14,810 inhabitants. Lying on the right bank of the Danube, across from t ...

. During World War II he avoided service in the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

's armed forces to join the Partisans.Dossier: Slučaj Perković ili tko su hrvatski obavještajci
24sata.hr; accessed 20 January 2016.

Business career in FPR/SFR Yugoslavia

After the war he rose to a position within INA.

Relocation to West Germany

After falling out with the government he defected to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in 1982 where he became involved with the Croatian National Committee, an

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

-linked organization. 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.

Assassination

Đureković was assassinated in

Wolfratshausen Wolfratshausen () is a town of the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, located in Bavaria, Germany. The town had a population of 19,033 as of 31 December 2019. History The first mention of "Wolveradeshusun" appears in documents from the year ...

by UDBA agents in 1983 in "Operation Dunav". Đureković's remains were reburied at

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

Mirogoj cemetery The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, hr, Gradsko groblje Mirogoj), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery ( hr, Groblje Mirogoj), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members o ...

in 1999. In 2005, Germany issued an arrest warrant on

Josip Perković Josip Perković (; born 17 May 1945) is a former director of the Yugoslav-era Croatian secret police, the State Security Service (''Služba državne sigurnosti'', SDS),The State Security Service (SDB or SDS) was the federal secret police of ...

for his involvement in the assassination. Krunoslav Prates was also put on trial on charges relating to the crime. The German court trying Prates threatened to take action against Croatian officials who obstructed testimony at the trial, including Croatian president

Stjepan Mesić Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić (; born 24 December 1934) is a Croatian lawyer and politician who served as President of Croatia from 2000 to 2010. Before serving two five-year terms as president, he was prime minister of SR Croatia (1990) after the fir ...

. In 2008, Krunoslav Prates was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the assassination. In 2009, Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office issued warrants for Zdravko Mustač, Ivan Cetinić, Ivan Lasić and Boris Brnelić for involvement in the murder as members of the

UDBA The State Security Service ( hr, Služba državne sigurnosti, sr, Служба државне безбедности; mk, Служба за државна безбедност; sl, Služba državne varnosti), also known by its original name ...

. In October 2009, German police arrested Luka Sekula, a Croat with Swedish citizenship, for participation in the murder. On 1 January 2014,

was arrested in Zagreb. His trial began in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in mid-2014. In August 2016, both Perković and Zdravko Mustač were proclaimed guilty in a first-instance verdict and sentenced to life imprisonment for abetting the murder of Đureković.

Publications

* ''Ja, Josip Broz-Tito: roman'', 1982. * ''Kako Jugoslavija pljačka Hrvatsku'', poslije 1982. * ''Komunizam: velika prevara'', 1982. * ''Sinovi orla = Bijt’ e Shqiponjës: roman'', 1982. * ''Slom ideala: (ispovijed Titovog ministra): roman'', 1982., New York, 1983. * ''Crveni menageri'', Washington, 1983. * ''Yugoslavia in crisis: the political and economic dimensions'', New York, 1983. (suautor Ivan Botić) * ''Yugoslavia’s energy crisis'', 1983.

References