ZAGREB, Feb 9 (Hina) - President Stjepan Mesic has annulled his decision on the retirement of Stipe Cacija, who was an active Croatian army officer at the time when Mesic decided on his retirement, and who was recently dismissed from
the office of Assistant Interior Minister.
ZAGREB, Feb 9 (Hina) - President Stjepan Mesic has annulled his
decision on the retirement of Stipe Cacija, who was an active Croatian
army officer at the time when Mesic decided on his retirement, and who
was recently dismissed from the office of Assistant Interior
Minister.#L#
Mesic's decision to annul the decision on Cacija's retirement of 31
December 2003 went into force on Monday (9 February 2004), the Office
of the President of the Republic said in a statement.
According to the explanation of the latest decision, Mesic, who is the
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, decided to annul Cacija's
retirement in the context of initiatives to define additional criteria
for the cessation of active military service with the right to old-age
retirement.
Six days ago, the government relieved Cacija of duty as Assistant
Interior Minister, the reason being media reports on Cacija's refusal
to recognise his 18-year-old illegitimate son and pay alimony.
Former Defence Minister Zeljka Antunovic was also quoted by the media
as saying that disciplinary procedure had been initiated against
Cacija as he was the chief of security of the Croatian Democratic
Union (HDZ) president in the run-up to the November parliamentary
elections, despite the fact that he was an active army officer at the
time.
The head of the independent trade union of police officers, Nikola
Damjanovic, also accused Cacija in the media of numerous cases of
abuse of office and involvement in criminal activities.
(Hina) ms