The defendant Antun Gudelj
The Osijek County Court issued a verdict in the proceedings conducted against Antun Gudelj who was charged with the commission of criminal acts against life and physical integrity – killing referred to in Article 35, paragraph 2, items 1, 4 and 5 of the Basic Criminal Law of the RoC (hereinafter: the OKZ RH) and the criminal act against life and physical integrity – attempted killing referred to in Article 34, paragraph 2, items 1 and 4 of the OKZ RH in relation to Article 17 (Article 19) of the OKZ RH.
He was found guilty and sentenced to a joint prison sentence in the duration of 20 years.
It was a re-opened procedure.
– In 1994, Gudelj was convicted in absentia (he was at large in Australia) and sentenced to 20 years in prison for the abovementioned criminal acts. This verdict was appealed both by the Osijek County State’s Attorney’s Office and the defence counsel of the defendant Gudelj.
– Gudelj was extradited to Croatia by Germany in February 1996. He was arrested in November 1995 pursuant to the international arrest warrant.
– On 7 March 1996, the Supreme Court of the RoC passed a ruling in which it ex-officioquashed the first instance challenged verdict and returned the case for a re-trial because, during the appellate procedure, it established that preconditions had been created for the defendant to be tried in his presence. That same ruling extended detention against Mr. Gudelj.
– On 4 November 1996, Gudelj filed a request for termination of the criminal procedure by applying the General Amnesty Act.
– On 3 February 1997, the Extra-trial Chamber of the Osijek County Court rejected Gudelj’s request.
– On 22 May 1997, the Supreme Court of the RoC upheld Gudelj’s appeal against the ruling of the Osijek County Court, altered that ruling and, pursuant to the General Amnesty Act, terminated the criminal procedure against Gudelj and cancelled detention. Gudelj went to Australia.
– In June 1997, the injured party Jadranka Reihl-Kir filed a constitutional complaint against the decision on termination of the procedure, while the State Attorney’s Office filed a request for the protection of legality on 16 September
– On 10 November 2000, the Supreme Court of the RoC in the verdict No. Kzz-16/97-4 concluded that the request for the protection of legality was grounded and that the ruling of the Supreme Court No. I Kž-102/97-4 violated the law to the benefit of the defendant Antun Gudelj, without changing the legal validity of the verdict since the request for the protection of legality was issued to the detriment of the defendant.
– On 14 March 2001, the Constitutional Court of the RoC upheld the constitutional complaint filed by Jadranka Reihl-Kir and overturned the ruling of the Supreme Court of the RoC No. Kž-102/97-4 of 22 May 1997 and reversed the case to the Supreme Court of the RoC for a re-trial.
– On 11 April 2001, the Supreme Court of the RoC rejected the appeal lodged by the defendant Gudelj against the ruling of the Osijek County Court of 3 February 1997 as unfounded.
– After the procedure had resumed, the Osijek County Court, upon the proposal of the Osijek County State’s Attorney’s Office, ordered detention against the defendant Antun Gudelj on 18 June 2001 and issued an international arrest warrant.
– In September 2006, Gudelj was arrested in Sydney and extradited to Croatia on 15 July 2007, and has been detained since then.
INDICTMENT (SUMMARY)
The indictment issued by the Osijek County State’s Attorney’s Office No. KT-148/91 of 25 March 1992, which was partially modified on three occasions, charged Antun Gudelj that on 1 July 1991, as a member of the Reserve Police forces, being informed and aware of negotiations that had taken place between representatives of Serb inhabitants of the village of Stara Tenja and representatives of political and administrative authorities of the Osijek Municipal Assembly, stepped out in front of the vehicle that was coming with the indicators flashing from the direction of Osijek moving in the direction of the Tenja village centre and in which negotiators were driving, feeling bitter about the course of the negotiations and about the negotiators and holding them responsible for the situation in the village and the attacks that had happened, and with the aim of taking revenge on them, fired a number of shots from an automatic rifle and in a vile and ruthless manner killed Josip Reihl-Kir, Milan Knežević and Goran Zobundžija, while Mirko Tubić was seriously injured.
GENERAL DATA
Osijek County Court
Case No.: K-32/01
Court Council: Judge Damir Krahulec, Council President; Judge Drago Grubeša, Council member; Lay Judge Josip Ciprovac, Council member; Lay Judge Marica Miluković, Council member and Lay Judge Marija Rumbočić-Pezelj, Council member
Indictment: No.: KT-148/91 of 25 March 1992 issued by the Osijek County State’s Attorney’s Office, partially modified on 12 April 1994, 24 June 1994 and 19 June 2008
Prosecution: Dražen Križevac, Osijek County Deputy State’s Attorney
Criminal act: murder referred to in Article 35, paragraph 2, items 1, 4 and 5 of the OKZ RH and a criminal act of attempted murder referred to in Article 35, paragraph 2, items 1 and 4 of the OKZ RH in relation to Article 17 (Article 19) of the OKZ RH.
The defendant: Antun Gudelj, in detention
Defence counsels: Nedeljko and Domagoj Rešetar, selected defence counsels of the defendant Antun Gudelj
Attorney-in-fact for the injured party Jadranka Reihl-Kir: Slobodan Budak, a lawyer practising in Zagreb
Victims:
– killed: Josip Reihl-Kir, Milan Knežević and Goran Zobundžija,
– wounded: Mirko Tubić
MONITORING REPORTS
The main hearing commenced on 9 October 2007. A total of 15 hearings were held. The verdict was announced on 7 July 2008 in which the defendant Antun Gudelj was found guilty and sentenced to a joint prison sentence in the duration of 20 (twenty) years.
During the evidence procedure 20 witnesses were questioned: the injured party Jadranka Reihl-Kir, Mirko Livaja, Krešimir Tolj, Ivica Mišin, Željomir Kostić, Branimir Golubić, Željko Špehar, Božidar Riba, Zlatko Kramarić, Gordana Ajduković, Zvonko Bojčić, Mato Arlović, Branislav Grgić (before the Extra-trial Chamber), Andrija Zgrebec (before the Extra-trial Chamber), Zvonko Erak, Marijan Ivić, Branko Ruman, Mate Šalinović and Josip Boljkovac.
Witness testimonies of Angelina Ratković, Josip Jarić, Marko Dubravec and of the injured party Mirko Tubić were read.
The defendant pleaded not guilty and presented his defence at the end of the evidence procedure.
Except for the injured party Jadranka Reihl-Kir, other injured parties in this criminal act were not represented by attorneys-in-fact, nor were they present at any of the trial sessions.
Public session of the Supreme Court of the RoC was held on 9 April 2009.
You can see the report from the public session here. (in Croatian)
MONITORS’ OBSERVATIONS
The repeated trial attracted huge interest from the media. Council President conducted the trial in a professional manner. Although she was present at every hearing, Jadranka Reihl-Kir and her attorney-in-fact were not present during the announcement of the verdict. The Council deems that the aforementioned criminal acts were not committed in a vile manner (because the perpetrator did not hide when he committed them), but only due to ruthless revenge, as indicated by the indictment.
VERDICT
The Council of the Osijek County Court published the verdict No. K-32/01 in which the defendant Antun Gudelj was found guilty for a criminal act against life and physical integrity – murder referred to in Article 35, paragraph 2, items 1, 4 and 5 of the KZ RH and a criminal act against life and physical integrity – attempted murder referred to in Article 34, paragraph 2, items 1 and 4 of the KZ RH in relation to Article 17 (Article 19) of the OKZ RH.
The abovementioned verdict determined the following prison sentences:
- For count 1 of the indictment (murder of Josip Reihl-Kir due to ruthless revenge) in the duration of 20 (twenty) years,
- For count 2 of the indictment (murder of Milan Knežević due to ruthless revenge) in the duration of 20 (twenty) years
- For count 3 of the indictment (murder of Goran Zobundžija due to ruthless revenge) in the duration of 20 (twenty) years
- For count 4 of the indictment (attempted murder of Mirko Tubić due to ruthless revenge) in the duration of 10 (ten) years.
Pursuant to the abovementioned, the defendant Antun Gudelj was sentenced to a joint prison sentence in the duration of 20 (twenty) years.
Detention against the defendant Antun Gudelj was extended. A special decision will be passed with regard to extradition detention.
All injured parties were advised to resolve their proprietary requirements in litigation proceedings.
The Supreme Court of the RoC, at the public session held on 9 April 2009, upheld the first instance verdict.
You can see the verdict of the Supreme Court of the RoC here. (in Croatian)
The third-instance court session was held at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia on 09 December 2009 subsequent to the appeals filed against the second-instance court verdict previously reached by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia. We still do not have the information on the third-instance court decision.
OPINION OF THE MONITORING TEAM FOLLOWING THE COMPLETED FIRST INSTANCE PROCEEDINGS
In July 2008, the repeated proceedings against the defendant Antun Gudelj were completed with a non-final conviction at the Osijek County Court. The defendant was non-finally sentenced to a joint prison sentence in the duration of 20 years for the murder of Josip Reihl-Kir, Head of the Osijek Police Administration, Milan Knežević, a Board member of the Osijek Municipal Assembly and Goran Zobundžija, President of the Executive Board of the Osijek Municipal Assembly, and for the attempted murder of Mirko Tubić, President of Tenja Local Board, which he committed on 1 July 1991 as a member of the Reserve Police forces of the RoC. At the checkpoint that was located in Nova Tenja, he fired at the car in which the negotiating team was driving.
In 1994, Antun Gudelj was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison, but after he was extradited to the Republic of Croatia, the procedure was repeated. The Osijek County Court rejected the request filed by the defence for termination of the procedure, but in 1997 the Supreme Court of the RoC, acting upon the appeal, terminated the criminal procedure by invoking the General Amnesty Act. In June 1997, the injured party Jadranka Reihl-Kir filed a constitutional complaint against the ruling on termination, while the State Attorney’s Office filed a request for the protection of legality in September of that year. In 2000, the Supreme Court of the RoC concluded that the request for the protection of legality was grounded and that the ruling on termination of the procedure violated the law, but since that request was issued to the detriment of the defendant, the Supreme Court did not change the legal validity of the verdict. In 2001, the Constitutional Court upheld the constitutional complaint filed by the injured party and overturned the ruling of the Supreme Court of the RoC on termination of the procedure and reversed the case for a re-trial. On that occasion, the Supreme Court of the RoC rejected the appeal lodged by the defendant and upheld the ruling of the Osijek County Court on the rejection of the request for termination of the procedure. Only then preconditions were met to try Antun Gudelj for the criminal acts with which he had been charged and he was once again extradited from Australia and put in detention on 15 July 2007.
During the main hearing in the repeated procedure, a total of 20 witnesses were heard who confirmed the testimonies they had provided in the first procedure and which matched contents-wise. Unlike the prosecutor, the Court did not deem that the killings were committed in a vile manner, which he explained in the announcement of the verdict (but not in the written explanation) by the fact that the defendant did not hide while committing the crime and that the injured party could clearly see him.
In spite of the attempts by the injured party’s attorney-in-fact during the proceedings to learn the names of persons who possibly encouraged or ordered these criminal acts, Council President prohibited such questions because they went outside the boundaries defined by the indictment, therefore they were not the subject of discussion. With that regard, the injured party’s attorney-in-fact in his closing speech expressed disagreement with the fact that this procedure did not ascertain whether this was the perpetrator’s self-initiated criminal act or a widely prepared killing of J. Reihl-Kir and stated that the State Attorney’s Office failed to recognise that this was a “conspiracy for the purpose of killing”.
Namely, the case of murder of Josip Reihl-Kir, Milan Knežević and Goran Zobundžija and of the wounding of Mirko Tubić was marked by the passivity of the prosecuting bodies of the Republic of Croatia, looking back to the point when the criminal act itself was committed and when Antun Gudelj, in the presence of several policemen, left the crime scene and when detention against him was ordered no sooner than in August 1991, at the time when he had already left the Republic of Croatia. Moreover, upon his extradition, the Supreme Court terminated the criminal proceedings against him while obviously erroneously applying the General Amnesty Act. Finally, only after the initiative by the injured party Jadranka Reihl-Kir and her attorney-in-fact, i.e. filing of a constitutional complaint, the decision of the Supreme Court on termination of the proceedings was overturned and conditions were created for the reinstitution of trial.
During this procedure, it was undoubtedly established that Antun Gudelj killed Josip Reihl Kir exactly at the time when Mr. Kir and several then high ranking state officials knew that Reihl-Kir had been threatened with murder and therefore ordered his transfer to Zagreb. Whether that fact was connected with the murder committed by Antun Gudelj, is something that, in our opinion, must be investigated.
