"Petrac is under the control of the Greek authorities and the (Croatian) Justice Ministry is going send a formal request for his extradition," the Croatian Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The Justice Ministry initiates extradition procedure upon receipt of an official notification from the Croatian office of Interpol of the apprehension of a wanted person abroad. The procedure is entirely based on the Council of Europe Convention on Extradition, and the extradition process can last between 18 and 40 days. If during that period the Justice Ministry fails to submit a request for the extradition of a Croatian national who has been arrested abroad, the person in question is set free.
Croatian Government spokesman Ratko Macek told reporters during his visit to the Polish city of Gdansk on Wednesday that "the government will not comment on news about the arrest of Hrvoje Petrac, and it can only say that all points of the action plan are being implemented".
After the European Union refused to open membership talks with Croatia this March, saying that Croatia had failed to fully cooperate with the Hague war crimes tribunal, the Croatian government launched the action plan to destroy the network of general Ante Gotovina's helpers and track down the runaway general, who is wanted by the Hague tribunal. Petrac is believed to be one of the key financiers of Gotovina's escape.
Petrac's lawyer Marijan Pedisic on Wednesday declined to comment on reports of his client's arrest until he received official confirmation of the news. Pedisic only said that he could not represent Petrac until his client was extradited to Croatia.