No Evidence Against Ivo Pukanic Assassins?

Kuzmanovic was released after 55 days of detention due to lack of evidence. The same thing will be with Djurovic, Matanic and Mafalani.

Despite the fact that the police quickly apprehended those who are involved with the murder of Nacional weekly co-founder Ivo Pukanic and the paper`s marketing director Niko Franjic, they were wondering in the dark and held an innocent man, Milenko Kuzmanovic, in detention for 55 days. Court provisions support this, in possession of the Javno news site. Kuzmanovic was detained nearly an hour after Slobodan Djurovic, Luka and Robert Matanic were booked near the border crossing and he and Djurovic were characterised as the main logistics for the escape of the Matanic cousins.

In an exclusive interview for Javno, Kuzmanovic severely denied the claims, saying that he was carrying the power of attorney to Matanic at the Bajakovo crossing. What is more, Kuzmanovic was not aware why a special police unit knocked him on the floor near the Stari hrastovi platform, some 20 kilometres away from Zagreb, and tried to make him confess that he brought explosive to Matanic from Serbia, which was activated in the Nacional paper`s courtyard and killed Ivo Pukanic and Niko Franjic in October last year. Officially, Kuzmanovic was detained at 21:20 hours, although he was picked up on October 29, 2008 at 18:25 hours, while the time of Matanic and Djurovic`s arrest is stated at 17:40 hours.

Although Kuzmanovic was given “a new part” in the investigation later on, the guideline of investigating judge Jadranka Mandusic was similar when she was determining detention to Kuzmanovic or when she prolonged it. Apart from the standard one, that Djurovic and Kuzmanovic are detained because they are not Croatian citizens, as well as the court`s claims that “they knew two persons who died and the crime was committed in the very centre of Zagreb when many citizens were present, which shows the perpetrator’s callousness because they agreed to help the perpetrators”.

- The records point that both arrested men were persons often seen in contact with persons prone to felonies, therefore the arrested men move in crime circles of the countries they are staying in, which points that they have accepted criminal activities as a pattern of their behaviour – the explanation for the detention claims, issued out by investigating judge Ljiljana Maletic, which Djurovic and Kuzmanovic faced on October 31, 2008.

Kuzmanovic to Sue Croatia for Stay in Custody

Although Djurovic is famous for being Sreten Jocic aka Joca Amsterdam`s best man (dubbed the Balkan boss by many), Kuzmanovic`s non-involvement in criminal activities was confirmed by Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic. As we were unofficially informed, Minister Dacic presented evidence to Croatian police straight away, showing that Kuzmanovic was never charged for anything and that he did not have impending court proceedings against him. However, after determined detention, Kuzmanovic was given detention for almost the same reasons. Many discrepancies in the investigation also reveal the detention decree for Slobodan Djurovic and Milenko Kuzmanovic.

After the criminal inquest ended, a well-informed source revealed, the police notified the State Attorney`s Office that Kuzmanovic drove Djurovic to Croatia in his Mercedes, which proved to be absolutely false. This is evident from the fact that they entered the country at different times, as well as from the warrant issued out by the Zagreb County Court on the day of his arrest, for the search of Kuzmanovic`s Clio. Apart from the car, Kuzmanovic had his mobile phone confiscated, which were never returned to the owner by the court, although he has been free for over a month now.

While he was in detention, Kuzmanovic told us, one of the investigators told him that the police have not found a single piece of incriminating evidence in his mobile phones, apart from the phone number of Robert Matanic. It is no secret that the phone call led the police think that he was waiting for Kuzmanovic at the Bajakovo state crossing, which he mentioned himself, after all, but the question is raised – how did the State Attorney`s Office find elements to suspect that Kuzmanovic talked with or saw Zeljko Milovanovic or Bojan Guduric, which was the reason why his detention was extended after a month.

It is logical that no court should trust a person`s word, therefore not even Kuzmanovic, when he claimed he did not know the men in question. However, it is a fact that the police did not find a piece of evidence to support this suspicion during the 55 days in detention, although the explanations of judge Mandusic about the extension of detention for Kuzmanovic and first-suspect Djurovic, were rather strict.

Charges against Kuzmanovic dropped

- Although knowing that Robert Matanic and Luka Matanic are suspected of the most severe type of murder, together with others, they conscientiously and willingly let themselves be available all with the objective of not being discovered and avoiding criminal responsibility and leave the territory of the Republic of Croatia. They acted from October 23, 2008 until their arrest, aiding suspects methodically, systematically and voluntarily – the explanation for extended detention of Djurovic and Kuzmanovc reads, dated November 27, 2008.

In less than a month, it turned out that Kuzmanovic had nothing to do with helping Matanic escape, i.e. raise money and destroy material and other evidence, which is what the Court council headed by judge Mirjana Kralik claimed on November 6, according to the explanation of the rejected appeal. This is why he was released from detention on Christmas Eve, but the question is how powerful evidence against Djurovic, Matanic and Amir Mafalani is, who are still detained, if considered that the State Attorney`s Office dismissed charges entirely against Kuzmanovic.