Josip Reihl-Kir

Josip Reihl-Kir (25 July 1955 – 1 July 1991) was the police chief of Osijek in Croatia, known for his peacemaking initiatives, who was killed in the Croatian War of Independence.^[1]

Early life

Born in Sirač, SFR Yugoslavia, Reihl-Kir began working for the police in 1981. On 31 July 1990, he was named chief of the Osijek police station.^[2]

Role in the Croatian War of Independence

From the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence, the border between Croatia and Serbia was the site of significant ethnic tension. As the police chief in Osijek, Reihl-Kir managed to keep the peace in that area. When barricades were built by Serbian nationalists, he usually went unarmed to negotiate with them.^[3] Reihl-Kir offered to keep Croatian paramilitary forces outside of areas inhabited by Serbs, and in return, he asked Serb leaders to remove the barricades surrounding those locations. The Serbs always agreed.^[4][5] To ensure that the agreement was kept, Croatian paramilitary forces were infiltrated by Reihl-Kir's agents.^[3]

In April 1991, a group of three members of the Croatian Democratic Union, including Gojko Šušak, told Reihl-Kir to guide them to the outskirts of the Croatian Serb village of Borovo Selo. Though Reihl-Kir initially objected, he finally agreed to do so. There, three Armbrust rockets were fired. Although there were no injuries or deaths, the incident was shown on Serbian television as evidence of "unprovoked Croatian agression against Serbs". After the incident, Reihl-Kir continued negotiations.^[6]

On 1 May 1991, following an incident where Croatian policemen entered Borovo Selo,^[6] Reihl-Kir became involved when he contacted Vukašin Šoškoćanin, who confirmed the incident and said the police had shot at members of the local population, wounding one. Reihl-Kir failed to secure the release of two officers who were captured following the incident.^[7] Reihl-Kir and Vinkovci police chief Josip Džaja concluded that a rescue party should be sent to Borovo Selo.^[7] Following this, the Battle of Borovo Selo took place. In the following weeks, Reihl-Kir openly protested the Croatian Democratic Union politicians' obstruction of his efforts to broker peace between the two sides.^[8]

Assassination

To protect his life, Reihl-Kir went to Zagreb to ask the police minister, Josip Boljkovac, to transfer him. Boljkovac agreed to move Reihl-Kir to Zagreb. On 1 July 1991, Reihl-Kir was murdered in Tenja,^[3] only one day before he was due to make that transfer to Zagreb. Following what is widely believed to have been an assassination, the killer relocated to Australia.^[8] In 2007, Australia extradited Antun Gudelj to Croatia for the 1991 killings of Reihl-Kir and two associates.^[9]

Legacy

Reihl Kir's actions and murder are described in the BBC book The Death of Yugoslavia ^[10] and covered in programme 3 of BBC's TV series of the same name.^[11]

References

Sources

• Hockenos, Paul (2003). Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism & the Balkan Wars. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801441585. 
• "Memorijal 12 redarstvenika, 2008." [12 Constables Memorial, 2008] (in Croatian). Ministry of the Interior (Croatia). 2008. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013.