Attorney for Artukovic Questions U.S. Motives

A defense lawyer for Andrija Artukovic charged Friday that the government’s motive for wanting to move the accused war criminal from a hospital in Long Beach to a federal prison in Missouri is “just plain vindictiveness.”

Attorney Gary B. Fleischman disputed government claims that the reason for moving Artukovic to the Missouri prison pending extradition to Yugoslavia was partly the high cost of keeping him at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Long Beach.

Fleischman cited federal law that says the requesting country in extradition cases must pay all the costs of apprehending, securing and transmitting a fugitive who is returned to a foreign country by the United States.

Must Pay Total Bill

“The law says Yugoslavia has to pay the total bill,” the lawyer said. “If that’s the case, why should the United States be worrying about saving Yugoslavia money?

“They have another reason for removing him, and I think it’s just plain vindictiveness.”

The government moved Thursday to transfer Artukovic, 85, who has been ordered extradited to Yugoslavia on a charge of murder, to a prison hospital in Springfield, Mo., on grounds that his hospitalization in Long Beach is costing $35,000 a month.

Assistant U.S. Atty. David Nimmer said the cost of keeping Artukovic at the Missouri prison would be much lower. He also said the Navy had agreed to hospitalize Artukovic only until the end of his extradition hearing.

U.S. Magistrate Volney V. Brown Jr., who described Artukovic as a “gallant old man” Thursday, said he was inclined to keep Artukovic at the Long Beach hospital so that his family and lawyers could be close to him. Brown set a hearing for Tuesday to decide the matter, saying he was not sure if he had the authority to block the government’s proposed transfer.

Extradition Already Certified

The former Croatian interior minister, accused by the Yugoslav government of the mass murder of 700,000 Serbs, Jews and Gypsies during World War II, has already been certified for extradition by Brown, but his lawyers plan appeals that could substantially delay the matter.

Artukovic also faces a deportation hearing in Los Angeles on April 9. Fleischman said Nimmer offered to drop the deportation effort if Artukovic would not oppose the transfer to Missouri. Fleischman rejected the offer.

“If they’re going to move him, why not move him to the federal prison at Terminal Island?” Fleischman asked. “They have a hospital there. I’d rather see him there where he could be near his family than halfway across the country in Missouri.”

Fleischman said that despite federal law on extradition matters, he doubts that the United States will ever charge Yugoslavia for the cost of handling the extradition request.

“I don’t think they ever planned to charge Yugoslavia for this,” the attorney said. “If they send Yugoslavia the bill for what this is costing the U.S. taxpayers, it would probably bankrupt the country.”

Nimmer said the question of Yugoslavia’s obligation to pay the costs of extradition was “a matter for the State Department and Yugoslavia” to decide.

There were conflicting comments by U.S. officials as to exactly who will decide whether Yugoslavia should be billed. While Nimmer said the decision must be made by the State Department, a department spokesman in Washington said the question is one for the Justice Department to decide. A Justice Department official said the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has the responsibility.