Chief State Prosecutor in favour of introducing life imprisonment

The tragic murder of Luka Milovac this past weekend has prompted the Croatian Prime Minister and Justice Minister to announce the possibility of introducing the institution of life imprisonment. The idea was supported by the Croatian Chief State Prosecutor on Friday.

Commenting on statements from Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Justice Minister Damir Habijan in the wake of the tragic murder of 19 year-old Luka Milovac in Drniš that introducing life imprisonment would be taken into consideration, Chief State Prosecutor Ivan Turudić told reporters on Friday that he felt that this would be a positive development.

“I think only two EU countries do not have life sentences. In 2000 we adopted a Criminal Code with that option, but it was struck down by the Constitutional Court because it was not adopted with a qualified majority, which is required in laws that deal with basic human rights,” Turudić said.

As noted by Turudić, Croatia is indeed one of only two European Union member states that does not have life imprisonment, the other being Portugal. The Croatian Criminal Code utilizes "long-term imprisonment" ranging from 20 to 40 years for the gravest offenses, with the maximum cumulative sentence limited to 50 years, even for multiple crimes. It should be noted that formal life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is not utilized in any EU member state.

Source: HRT