Marko Hranilović (11 December 1908 – 25 September 1931) was a Croatian nationalist and Secretary of the right-wing separatist Croatian Rights Youth (, ''HPO'') in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, which had been banned in 1929. He was executed in 1931 after being convicted of the murder of Toni Šlegel, a journalist. Also involved in the murder were Stjepan Javor, Matija Soldin, Zvonimir Pospišil, and

Mijo Babić Mijo Babić (1 September 1903 – 3 July 1941), nicknamed Giovanni, was a deputy of the Croatian fascist dictator Ante Pavelić, and the first commander of all concentration camps in the Independent State of Croatia. He was head of the Third Bure ...

. Hranilović was implicated in the murder after the arrest of Stjepan Javor, head of the HPO, on 31 October 1929. The HPO was accused of being a terrorist organization and Hranilović was charged with the murder of journalist Šlegel, along with Javor and Soldin. During the trial, the HPO was accused of associating with the nationalist exiles

Ante Pavelić Ante Pavelić (; 14 July 1889 – 28 December 1959) was a Croatian politician who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and was dictator of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a fasc ...

and Gustav Perčec. Hranilović vehemently denied any contact with these figures, and proved to be one of the most combative in court. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. He sparred with the court several times, including one instance where he called himself a "citizen of imprisoned Croatia".

Vladko Maček Vladimir Maček (20 June 1879 – 15 May 1964) was a politician in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As a leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) following the 1928 assassination of Stjepan Radić, Maček had been a leading Croatian political figure ...

and

Mile Budak Mile Budak (30 August 1889 – 7 June 1945) was a Croatian politician and writer best known as one of the chief ideologists of the Croatian fascist Ustaša movement, which ruled the Independent State of Croatia during World War II in Yugoslavia ...

served as attorneys for the defence. Maček, as leader of the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The ...

, was essentially the leader of the

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

within the kingdom at this time. Despite the defence's best efforts, Hranilović and Soldin were both sentenced to death by hanging. They were executed on 25 September 1931 on Petrinja Street, Zagreb. Javor was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He died in prison in 1936.

Rudolf Horvat Rudolf Horvat (14 March 1873 – 25 May 1947) was a Croatian historian. Horvat was born in Koprivnica, and graduated from the University of Zagreb in history and geography in 1896, as well as law in 1918. He worked as a history teacher in Osijek, ...

, ''Hrvatska na mučilištu'', Zagreb, 1942., str. 570.-571.

Links

* Mario Jareb, ''Ustaško-domobranski pokret''. Školska knjiga, d.d., Zagreb, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hranilovic, Marko 1908 births 1931 deaths Croatian fascists Croatian nationalist assassins Croatian nationalist terrorism Croatian people convicted of murder Croatian politicians convicted of crimes Croatian Peasant Party politicians Executed assassins Executed Croatian people Executed politicians Politicians convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Yugoslavia People executed by Yugoslavia by hanging