ZAGREB, June 6 (Hina) - Stanko Subotic Cane, recently described by the media as the boss of the European tobacco mob, has renounced his Croatian citizenship, Subotic's attorney Slobodan Budak said in Zagreb on Tuesday evening. Budak
said the Subotic couple, who have Yugoslav and Croatian citizenship, like their underage child, have through their lawyers forwarded their Croatian passports and statements to the Croatian Embassy in Switzerland renouncing Croatian citizenship. Their citizenship thus ceased to be valid since, as persons with dual citizenship, their Croatian citizenship ends on the day a statement to that effect is submitted, the attorney said. Budak said the Subotic couple made the decision due to "the furious slander campaign the Zagreb-based weekly 'Nacional' has been conducting against Stanko Subotic for a month, describing him as the boss of all Balkan mob bosses, a monstrous killer and the European king o
ZAGREB, June 6 (Hina) - Stanko Subotic Cane, recently described by
the media as the boss of the European tobacco mob, has renounced his
Croatian citizenship, Subotic's attorney Slobodan Budak said in
Zagreb on Tuesday evening.
Budak said the Subotic couple, who have Yugoslav and Croatian
citizenship, like their underage child, have through their lawyers
forwarded their Croatian passports and statements to the Croatian
Embassy in Switzerland renouncing Croatian citizenship.
Their citizenship thus ceased to be valid since, as persons with
dual citizenship, their Croatian citizenship ends on the day a
statement to that effect is submitted, the attorney said.
Budak said the Subotic couple made the decision due to "the furious
slander campaign the Zagreb-based weekly 'Nacional' has been
conducting against Stanko Subotic for a month, describing him as
the boss of all Balkan mob bosses, a monstrous killer and the
European king of (contraband) tobacco."
The Serbian "businessman" Stanko Subotic Cane, who lives in Geneva
with his wife and daughter, was given Croatian citizenship in June
1999, according to Interior Minister Sime Lucin. Subotic was given
citizenship in line with Article 12 of the Citizenship Law by the
then interior minister Ivan Penic, on General Ljubo Cesic Rojs'
recommendation.
Under the article, the Interior Minister has discretionary powers
to grant a person citizenship on recommendation even if that person
does not meet other legal requirements.
According to Lucin, 6,521 persons have obtained Croatian
citizenship on the basis of the minister's discretionary powers,
including as many as 253 persons with police records opened after
they were given citizenship.
According to sources in the Interior Ministry, the group with
police records, which includes international mobster Semyon
Mogilyevich and Vjeko Slisko's killer James Capau, were given most
letters of recommendation by the ministries of defence and internal
affairs and the President's Office.
In a statement to Hina, Ivan Penic refused claims that he had
personally signed a decision on granting Subotic citizenship,
adding it was possible some of the former assistant ministers who
had the power to sign such decisions on the minister's behalf had
done it.
(hina) sb rml