Artukovic Declared Competent
A federal magistrate in Los Angeles ruled today that Andrija Artukovic is mentally competent to face an extradition hearing on charges by the Yugoslavian government that he was responsible for the deaths of 770,000 Serbs, Jews and Gypsies during World War II.
The decision by U.S. Magistrate Volney V. Brown Jr. came after testimony from Dr. John M. Stalberg, a court-appointed psychiatrist, that the 85-year-old Artukovic is incompetent on some days, but competent on others. (Story, Part 2, Page 1). Stalberg recommended that the former Croatian government official be hospitalized in a geriatric-psychiatric hospital, but Brown took no action on that proposal.
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