Croatian politician and lawyer
Ivan Vekić (Croatian pronunciation: [ǐʋan ʋěːkit͡ɕ] ; 18 October 1938 – 17 December 2014) was a Croatian politician and lawyer. He was one of the founders of the Croatian Democratic Union and served as the Croatian Minister of Interior during the Croatian War of Independence .
Biography
Vekić was born in Poljica near Vrgorac in Kingdom of Yugoslavia on 18 October 1938. He was a member of Matica hrvatska and was one of the founders of the Croatian Democratic Union in 1989.[2] In 1990 he entered the Croatian Parliament . He served as the Minister of Interior from 31 July 1991 until 15 April 1992. During the Croatian War of Independence he had a rank of Colonel.[3] He was decorated with the Order of Ante Starčević for contribution to the maintenance and development of the Croatian statehood idea, establishment and construction of the sovereign Croatian state,[3] [4] while he refused to accept 5 decorations which were awarded to him by President Franjo Tuđman .[3]
Vekić is a critic of post-war policy of Croatian Democratic Union. He entered a conflict with the party's new leaders, Ivo Sanader and Vladimir Šeks . In 2003, after publishing Steps in History - Memories and Events (Croatian : Koraci u povijesti – sjećanja i događaji ), where he criticized Šeks, he was expelled from the party.[2]
During the parliamentary election in 2007 , he was a candidate of Only Croatia – Movement for Croatia for a seat in the Parliament.
In May 2011, after a series of adverse events in Croatia, he reshaped his existing civic association "Croatian Guard" into a nationalist political party called the Croatian Guard National Party .[5] He is the President of the party, and they advocate armed training in high schools and capital punishment.[6]
In September 2011 he was accused for war crimes by Serbia, along with Vladimir Šeks , Branimir Glavaš , Tomislav Merčep and 40 other Croatian soldiers involved in the Battle of Vukovar . He is charged with killing of 13 civilians and 6 unidentified persons.[7]
In October 2011 he entered into a coalition with the Croatian Party of Rights .[8] This was a result of call for unity of right-wing parties made by Daniel Srb , president of the Croatian Party of Rights.[8] Vekić was the top candidate on this coalition's list in the 4th electoral district in the 2011 Croatian parliamentary election .[9] The list won 4.69% of the vote and failed to enter parliament.[10]
References
^ "Preminuo ratni ministar Ivan Vekić" .
^ a b Podrug, Ante; Belak, Anita. Jedan od osnivača HDZ-a Ivan Vekić: Sanader je požeo ono što je godinama sijao . Slobodna Dalmacija . 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2011-10-31 (in Croatian)
^ a b c Jurčević, Kulić i Rohatinski na čelu države . T-Portal. 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2011-10-31 (in Croatian)
^ Tuđman, Franjo. Odluka . Narodne novine. 1995-05-28. Retrieved 2011-10-31 (in Croatian)
^ "Aktualne stranke - "Hrvatska straža" Nacionalna stranka" . Imenik stranaka registriranih u RH od 1990. godine . Croatian Information-Documentation Referral Agency. Retrieved 7 November 2011 .
^ Patković, Nikola. Osniva se stranka koja će biti za obuku o oružju u srednjoj školi i smrtnu kaznu! . Jutarnji list . 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2011-10-31 (in Croatian)
^ Stigle optužnice iz Srbije: Šeks, Vekić, Glavaš, Merčep i 40 vukovarskih branitelja . iPress. 2011-09-21. Retrieved 2011-10-31 (in Croatian)
^ a b Lepan, Suzana. Vekić: Bit će još utemeljitelja HDZ-a koji će nam se pridružiti . Večernji list . 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2011-10-31 (in Croatian)
^ Garmaz, Željko. Vekić će sa Srbovim HSP-om koalirati u 4. izbornoj jedinici . 24 sata . 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2011-10-31 (in Croatian)
^ "KONAČNI SLUŽBENI REZULTATI IZBORA ZASTUPNIKA U HRVATSKI SABOR (Final official results of the election of representatives in the Croation parliament)" (in Croatian). 4 December 2011. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014.