A Place in History Books

Zvonimir Marković (Zvonimir Markovic), Tito-era dissident, political prisoner, Croatian nationalist and one of the founders of HDZ in Split, had a life-long dream to become first Croatian ambassador in Belgrade. 1990s made his dream come true.

But these days he is entering history books for somewhat different reasons. He became first Croatian ambassador to end up in jail. Zagreb County Court yesterday sentenced him and Nikša Giovanelli (Niksa Giovanelli), former CEO of "Jadroplov", to three and two years of jail respectively. Marković is found guilty for "abuse of power for the purpose of material gain", which describes some 672.801 HRK (cca. 88.000 euros) that were supposed to be donated to Croatian Embassy in Belgrade and ended on Marković's private account instead.