ZAGREB WEEKLY REPORT- JULY 30

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000469 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EIND KCRM KCOR HR SUBJECT: ZAGREB WEEKLY REPORT- JULY 30 ¶1. (U) DEADLY TRAIN CRASH LEADS TO CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION: Six people were killed (four Croatians and two foreigners) and 55 injured on July 24 after a train derailed outside of Split. No AmCits were among the killed or injured, although many casualties were tourists. The initial stage of an ongoing investigation suggests that a fire retardant produced by the U.S. company Universal Fire Shields, applied on the track just minutes before the accident, was the likely cause. The top management of a Croatian Railroads (HZ) subsidiary "HZ Infrastructure" has been was fired and six persons arrested, including the company's director in charge of environmental protection, Ivan Medak. Medak is held responsible for selecting, in a seemingly non-transparent procurement, the contractor that supplied the retardant, which was then improperly applied by an unqualified subcontractor. Media reports claim the retardant was never certified by Croatian authorities and may have been imported illegally. Investigations continue. (ZTomic) ¶2. (U) CROATIA MOVES TO FORMALLY OUST ITS UN PERMREP: The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Croatian Parliament on July 27, recommended to President Mesic that he relieve Croatia's Ambassador to the United Nations, Neven Jurica, of his duties. Jurica has not been actively at his post since mid-April when the heavy smoker was hospitalized for internal bleeding in his lungs. Subsequent to his illness, an internal audit of Croatia's mission in New York turned up spending irregularities valued at USD 150,000. Media suggest the pending audit results contributed to Jurica's decision to go on sick leave. On the same day as the parliamentary action against Jurica, Croatia's Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK) said it had opened a formal investigation regarding the embezzlement of these funds. The parliamentary committee did not discuss any potential permanent replacements for Jurica, but local media are speculating that the current deputy chief of mission in New York, Ranko Vilovic, is the leading candidate to get the job. (DMeges) ¶3. (U) THOMPSON HATE SPEECH TIED TO ETHNIC VIOLENCE: Controversial pop-singer Marko Perkovic Thompson was again in the spotlight after accusations that the singer encouraged audience members to yell a fascist salute at a recent concert in Biograd, a Croatian coastal town. The slogan "Za Dom Spremni" (For the Homeland - Ready) was used by the fascist puppet Ustasa government during WWII. According to media reports Thompson went on to say that he would "not be silent" and that he is "ready for the homeland" though some "traitors" did not wish him to be. He accused President Mesic of being a traitor and claimed that anti-fascists did not create the Croatian state. Mesic responded by noting that anti-fascism as a founding principle of Croatia is written into the Croatian Constitution. Though police investigated, no charges will be pressed as there was no video or tape recording of his speech. Shortly after Thompson's concert, a group of hooligans vandalized the home and car of a Serb national in a town less than 25 miles away. The perpetrators yelled "Kill Serbs" and "Hang the Serbs." (JNCallahan). ¶4. (U) SENTENCE FOR RAPE OF U.S. BASKETBALL PLAYER REDUCED: The sentence of Gospic businessman Josip Mraovic, for the 2005 rape of U.S. basketball player Illisha Jarret, has been reduced from three years imprisonment to two. Mraovic was originally acquitted of charges but was later found guilty by a higher court. Mraovic appealed this decision asking for acquittal or a re-trial. The Supreme Court denied his appeal, but reduced his sentence. Press reports stated that Mraovic is still hoping to avoid jail time on medical grounds. (VDjukic) ¶5. (U) PROFESSORS SENTENCED IN "INDEX" CORRUPTION SCANDAL: Nine professors from Zagreb's Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering and four middlemen were sentenced on Wednesday to prison terms ranging from six months to two years for taking bribes from students in exchange for letting them pass exams. The remaining 17 accused middlemen, students, and their parents were given suspended sentences, while two were acquitted, including a teacher. All the convicted teachers were banned from teaching for five years. (VDjukic) ¶6. (U) EURO-SKEPTICISM STILL DOMINANT IN CROATIA: The European Commission's Standard Eurobarometer survey, conducted in January and February 2009, found that 29 percent of Croatians believed the country's entry into the EU would be a good thing, while 36 percent were convinced that integration with the EU was a negative thing. 30 percent did not have an opinion on the issue. Asked whether Croatia would benefit from membership in the Union, 50 percent said no, 38 said yes and 12 percent did not know. Though the levels of "Euro-optimism" in Croatia are among the lowest in Europe, these results present a slight improvement from the same time last year when the supporters were at 23 percent. (ZTomic) ¶7. (U) TOURISM MINISTRY CLAIMS TOURIST NUMBERS STEADY: ZAGREB 00000469 002 OF 002 According to Minister of Tourism Damir Bajs, results from this year's tourist season so far are meeting expectations. In terms of tourist traffic, Minister Bajs stated that by July 1 there was only a seven percent drop in tourist entries into the country from the same period last year, and only three percent fewer overnights than last year. The Minister emphasized that these decreases are substantially less than those of countries that compete with Croatia for tourism, and said his goal is to suffer fewer losses than those of other tourist destination countries. (DMatijas- Vengar) WALKER