ABiH
10-06-2005, 12:48 PM
Bosnia Croat ex-leader jailed for 10 years
SARAJEVO, Oct 6 (*******) - A former Bosnian Croat leader was jailed in his absence for 10 years on Thursday after he was found guilty of abuse of office and embezzlement of 100 million euros ($120.5 million).
Bosnia's state court issued a warrant for Jelavic's arrest after he failed to show up for the sentencing following an 18-month trial.
He was accused of using government funds to buy shares in Croat-run Hercegovacka bank and in an insurance firm in the town of Mostar when he was defence minister of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation in the late 1990s.
Jelavic has denied the charges against him.
He was head of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party and member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency before he was sacked by an international peace envoy in 2001 over his backing for the creation of a separate Croat region in Bosnia.
The Hercegovacka bank, suspected by Western officials of financing a Croat separatist movement, was closed the same year and declared bankrupt by an international administrator.
Post-war Bosnia consists of a Muslim-Croat federation and a Serb republic.
AOL News (http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051006092409990028)
SARAJEVO, Oct 6 (*******) - A former Bosnian Croat leader was jailed in his absence for 10 years on Thursday after he was found guilty of abuse of office and embezzlement of 100 million euros ($120.5 million).
Bosnia's state court issued a warrant for Jelavic's arrest after he failed to show up for the sentencing following an 18-month trial.
He was accused of using government funds to buy shares in Croat-run Hercegovacka bank and in an insurance firm in the town of Mostar when he was defence minister of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation in the late 1990s.
Jelavic has denied the charges against him.
He was head of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party and member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency before he was sacked by an international peace envoy in 2001 over his backing for the creation of a separate Croat region in Bosnia.
The Hercegovacka bank, suspected by Western officials of financing a Croat separatist movement, was closed the same year and declared bankrupt by an international administrator.
Post-war Bosnia consists of a Muslim-Croat federation and a Serb republic.
AOL News (http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051006092409990028)