A former top regional official of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) has died as a result of heart problems just three weeks after being detained over his role in the killing of Serbian civilians at the start of the 1990s Balkan war.
Croatian national radio reports that the 67-year-old Djuro Brodarac died in a hospital in the eastern town of Osijek, where he was admitted on June 12.
Brodarac, wartime police chief in the central town of Sisak, was detained on June 20 along with his former aide and an ex-reserve police officer.
The three were suspected of committing war crimes against ethnic Serbian civilians in the region of of Sisak, some 60 kilometers southeast of Zagreb, in 1991 and 1992.
Brodarac was suspected of being responsible for the death of 31 civilians among at least 69 who were illegally detained and tortured.
He had denied the allegations.
compiled from agency reports
Croatian national radio reports that the 67-year-old Djuro Brodarac died in a hospital in the eastern town of Osijek, where he was admitted on June 12.
Brodarac, wartime police chief in the central town of Sisak, was detained on June 20 along with his former aide and an ex-reserve police officer.
The three were suspected of committing war crimes against ethnic Serbian civilians in the region of of Sisak, some 60 kilometers southeast of Zagreb, in 1991 and 1992.
Brodarac was suspected of being responsible for the death of 31 civilians among at least 69 who were illegally detained and tortured.
He had denied the allegations.
compiled from agency reports