The Zagreb County Court on Tuesday rejected former Interior Minister Josip Boljkovac's appeals against decisions to investigate him and place him in custody on suspicion of command responsibility for the execution of 21 civilians in the Karlovac area in May 1945.
Both appeals were rejected as groundless, said court spokesman Kresimir Devcic.
Although the decisions on the investigation and month-long detention are now final, Boljkovac's attorney Anto Nobilo announced filing a complaint of unconstitutionality, saying the decisions were not made by an authorised body.
The defence claims that Boljkovac should be prosecuted under the new and not the old Criminal Procedure Act.
Nobilo told press "the investigation should have been conducted by the State Prosecutor's Office and not the court."
The 91-year-old Boljkovac was Croatia's interior minister in the early 1990s.
He was arrested on November 2 on suspicion of organising the execution of 21 civilians in May 1945 as the chief of the Karlovac branch of the former Yugoslav security agency OZNA. Due to the gravity of the charges, he was placed in custody for a month and an investigation has been launched. Due to his age and condition, he is in the prison hospital.
