Killer in high-profile murder jailed to 30 years

Ivana Hodak, 26, was shot dead in October 2008 in the staircase of her apartment building in downtown Zagreb.

ZAGREB, March 12, 2010 (AFP) - A Croatian court on Friday sentenced a man to 30 years in prison for the murder of the daughter of a prominent lawyer which shocked the country amid a wave of mafia style attacks in the city.

The Zagreb municipal court found Mladen Slogar guilty of "first degree murder committed out of ruthless revenge," the state-run HINA news agency reported.

Ivana Hodak, 26, was shot dead in October 2008 in the staircase of her apartment building in downtown Zagreb, prompting the sacking of interior and justice ministers plus the head of the national police.

Slogar, a 61-year-old homeless man, had confessed to the murder. He said it was a revenge killing since the victim's father Zvonimir Hodak had in the past refused to help him find a job.

Hodak has repeatedly claimed that his daughter's murder was linked with one of his clients.

The prosecution announced they would appeal the verdict as they were pushing for the maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. Slogar can also appeal the verdict.

In 2008 the Croatian capital has rocked by a wave of mafia-style violence, including brutal attacks and killings of journalists and businessmen, unseen since the country's independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Tackling organised crime is among key criteria Croatia has to meet if it wants the join the European Union, which Zagreb hopes to achieve by 2012.