Artukovic, 89, ‘Butcher of the Balkans,’ Dies

Andrija Artukovic, the Croatian fascist leader held responsible for 700,000 deaths in World War II, has died almost two years after being sent from his safe haven in the United States to face trial in Yugoslavia.

The state news agency Tanjug said the 89-year-old man known as “the Butcher of the Balkans” died on Saturday at a prison hospital in Zagreb.

Artukovic, who lived for many years in Seal Beach, Calif., was sentenced to death by a Zagreb court in May, 1986, for the murder of 700,000 people when he was interior minister of the Nazi puppet state of Croatia. The sentence had been indefinitely postponed because of his poor health.

“Convicted war criminal Andrija Artukovic died of illness,” Tanjug said. It did not describe his medical condition. Earlier official reports had said he was suffering from numerous ailments normally associated with old age.

Extradited in 1986

Artukovic was extradited to Yugoslavia in February, 1986, from the United States, where he had lived in comfort and luxury and raised a family of five in Seal Beach after the war. He worked as a bookkeeper for a building company.

He was indicted on four mass-murder counts involving the deaths of about 700,000 Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and other Yugoslavs who opposed the fascist “Independent State of Croatia,” in which he was the second most senior leader after Ante Pavelic.

The monthlong hearing was the biggest war crimes trial ever staged in Yugoslavia.

Tanjug said Artukovic’s remains will be disposed of “in compliance with the instructions on the execution of the death penalty.” This normally means cremation and secret disposal of the ashes. The news agency said Artukovic will have no grave.

9-Year Extradition Effort

Until 1977, life continued unblemished for Artukovic, who spent his evenings playing cards with old Croatian friends who had formed a small, isolated community in Seal Beach.

The U.S. government then began what turned out to be a nine-year effort to have him extradited to Yugoslavia.

Artukovic’s children live near the Seal Beach home of his wife, Ana-Maria, a native of Austria.