Andrija Artukovic, who was the Interior Minister of the Nazi puppet state of Croatia during World War II, was Wednesday sentenced to death by a five-panel tribunal in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, for his war-time activities, according to reports here. Artukovic’s lawyers have 15 days to file a written appeal of the court decision.
The sentence was handed down by District Judge Miklo Gajski, culminating a month-long trial against the 86-year-old Artukovic. He was accused of complicity in the murder of some 900,000 Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and others in his post as minister in the fascist Ustasha government that ruled Croatia from 1941-1945.
Artukovic has denied all charges against him. He was extradited from the United States to Yugoslavia last February after living in California for 37 years. He had successfully battled extradition and deportation proceedings against him for 30 years, but was turned over to Yugoslav authorities only after a new case was brought against him in 1984 by U.S. authorities.
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