Nacional
October 23, 2008, in Zagreb, Croatia
Pukanic, owner and editorial director of the Zagreb-based political weekly Nacional, and Niko Franjic, the marketing director, were killed when a bomb placed under the journalist's car exploded outside the paper's offices, according to press reports and CPJ sources. Local press reports said Pukanic and Franjic were close to the car when the blast took place. Nacional often exposed corruption, organized crime, and human rights abuses, local sources told CPJ.
Croatian authorities moved swiftly to pursue the killers. On October 24, The Associated Press quoted Prime Minister Ivo Sanader as saying that authorities "will fight organized crime or terrorism--whatever is behind this murder--to its very end." On November 1, Croatian police announced that they had charged five suspects in connection with the murder.
In addition, police spokesman Krunoslav Borovec said
investigators were working with Bosnian authorities to track down the suspect
they believe planted the bomb. Local press reports identified the suspect as
Zeljko Milovanovic, a Bosnian Serb and former member of a Serbian paramilitary
group called the Red Berets. He held both Croatian and Bosnian passports,
according to the independent Serbian broadcaster B92. According to Reuters,
Bosnian police raided Milovanovic's house in the northern Bosnian town of
Pukanic had reported an earlier attack to police. In April, he told police, an unidentified assailant approached him near his apartment building, brandished a handgun and fired, narrowly missing him, the Croatian news Web site Javno reported. The assailant was not apprehended.
Medium: Print
Job: Publisher / Owner
Beats Covered: Corruption, Crime, Politics
Gender: Male
Local or Foreign: Local
Freelance: No
Type of Death: Murder
Suspected Source of Fire: Political Group
Impunity: Partial
Taken Captive: No
Tortured: No
Threatened: Yes
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