| Josip Boljkovac | |
|---|---|
| Minister of the Interior | |
| In office 30 May 1990 – 2 July 1991 |
|
| Prime Minister | Stjepan Mesić (1990) Josip Manolić (1990–1991) |
| Preceded by | Post created |
| Succeeded by | Onesin Cvitan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 November 1920 Vukova Gorica, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
| Nationality | Croatian |
| Political party | League of Communists of Yugoslavia (-1990) Croatian Democratic Union (1990-1994) Croatian Independent Democrats |
| Children | Jugoslav Boljkovac[1], Matija Boljkovac[2] |
Josip Boljkovac (born 1922 in Vukova Gorica, near Karlovac) is a former Croatian politician, and was the first Minister of Internal Affairs in the Government of Croatia.
During World War II, Boljkovac was Tito's partisan, he was active from the very beginning of antifascist usprising. He even met Rasndolph Churchill during his military mission. After the war he served with the state secret police OZNA. He was later appointed as mayor of Karlovac from 1963 to 1969.[3]
After democratic reforms in Croatia he joined the Croatian Democratic Union and became the country's first Minister of Internal Affairs. He later left the party to join the Croatian Independent Democrats. With that party's marginalization, he joined the Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats. Boljkovac has also run on the electoral list of the Croatian Party of Pensioners and the Independent Democratic Serb Party in separate elections.[4] In 2008, Boljkovac launched a bid to form a Josip Broz Tito Society, to celebrate the role of the former Yugoslav president.[5]
Local police are investigating Boljkovac's role in World War II and post-war Croatia, and are considering filing charges for war crimes against him. His reply on this accusations, about killing in Yugoslav concentration camps (such as Goli otok) was: Who are those witnesses? None of them from camps isn't alive.[6]
Boljkovac was arrested on November 2, 2011 on charges of war crimes for his role in the massacre of 21 civilians in the vicinity of Duga Resa in May, 1945.[7] He was transferred to Remetinec prison where he was ordered to be incarcerated for one month due to the severity of the charges. Boljkovac retained former state attorney in the Socialist Republic of Croatia Anto Nobilo as his representation. After only two days, he has been transferred to the hospital for prisoners for his bad health.[8] Following the appeal to the Constitutional court, charges against him has been revoked on November 29, 2011.[9]