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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Treason |
Sentence: |
16 yrs & hard labor |
Years Imprisoned: |
5 |
Year Crime: |
1945 |
Year Convicted: |
1946 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Croatia |
County or Region of Crime: |
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City of Crime: |
Zagreb |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac was wrongly convicted in 1946 of high treason and war crimes for collaborating with Yugoslavia's pro-Nazi Ustasha regime during World War II. During the war and at the time of his conviction, Stepinac was archbishop of Zagreb. Stepinac was arrested on September 18, 1946. Stepinac's lawyers were allowed six days to prepare for his trial, and limited to calling twenty witnesses -- while the prosecution had no limitation on the number of their witnesses. Yugoslav Supreme Court's sentenced Stepinac to 16 years in prison and hard labor. Stepinac refused a state pardon and served his prison sentence, asking instead for a retrial trial or for his conviction to be annulled. The Yugoslavian government bowed to foreign and domestic pressure and released Stepinac from prison in 1951 after five years of imprisonment, but placed him under house arrest. Stepinac was 61 when he died of thrombosis while under house arrest. In a 1985 interview with the Slovenian magazine Polet the chief trial prosecutor, Jakov Blaževi?, admitted that "Stepinac's only crime was not partaking in the separation of the Church in Croatia from the Vatican." On July 22, 2016 a panel of the Zagreb Country Court posthumously annulled Stepinac's treason conviction. The decision by Presiding Judge Ivan Turudic stated: "The judgement grossly violates both the former and current principles of the criminal law such as the right to a fair trial, the prohibition of forced labour and [the right to] an explanation of the decision and the right to appeal. ... The goal [of the verdict] was revenge against Stepinac,” by Yugoslavia's Communist regime." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On July 22, 2016 he Zagreb Country Court posthumously annulled Stepinac's treason conviction on the basis he did not receive a fair trial." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
46 |
Age When Released: |
53 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
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Information Source 1: |
"Croatia Overturns Conviction Of Alojzije Stepinac, By Admin, Info-Europa, July 22, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://info-europa.com/uncategorized/croatia-overturns-conviction-of-alojzije-stepinac/22099 |
Information Source 2: |
"Croatia Quashes Conviction of WWII Cardinal Stepinac, By Sven Milekic, Balkan Transitinoal Justice, July 22, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/croatia-squashes-wwii-cardinal-stepinac-verdict-07-22-2016?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed |
Information Source 3: |
"Aloysius Stepinac, Wikileaks.org" |
Information Location 3: |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloysius_Stepinac |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org