Court Upholds Death Verdict for Artukovic

The Supreme Court of the Yugoslav Republic of Croatia on Friday rejected Andrija Artukovic’s appeal of his death sentence for war crimes, the state-run Tanjug news agency reported.

Artukovic, 86, formerly of Seal Beach, Calif., was the interior minister and security chief of Croatia when it was a Nazi puppet state during World War II. He was found guilty May 14 of crimes against humanity and war crimes and sentenced to death.

The five-judge panel, headed by Djuro Debelic, ruled that the appeal was “unfounded” and upheld the original sentence, said Tanjug without elaborating.

(In Los Angeles, Artukovic’s son, Rad, said he was not surprised by the decision “to get this dirty business over with.”

Another Appeal

(He added that the verdict would be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court in Yugoslavia.

(“I fully expect them to execute him,” the Seal Beach stockbroker said, before leaving for Washington to lobby on his father’s behalf. “With a man 86 years old facing a firing squad, my feeling is that they’re not going to wait around.”

(The younger Artukovic said that he attempted to speak with his father by telephone recently, but Yugoslavian officials at the prison hospital refused to allow the call. Rad Artukovic also said that his visa request to the Yugoslavian government had been pending for some time and that he hoped it would soon be granted.

(“I want to get over there to see my poor dad,” he said.

Request Denied

(A request for his father to meet with a priest has also been denied, Rad said, concluding: “They’re playing hardball.”)

The elder Artukovic was extradited from the United States on Feb. 12 after having lived in Seal Beach for 36 years.

During the trial, the public prosecutor said more than 700,000 people were slaughtered in Croatian concentration camps during Artukovic’s term in office. He was accused specifically of involvement in four murders.

Artukovic, who is legally blind and suffers from several ailments, admitted he served as interior minister but repeatedly denied involvement in any war crimes. He was convicted of four specific counts of murder contained in a 32-page indictment.

Times staff writer Mark I. Pinsky contributed to this story.