The coffin with the body of the deceased Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Boris Sprem, arrived in Zagreb at 13.38 hours on Wednesday aboard a regular Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt.
In attendance at the Zagreb Airport were the most senior Croatian officials, including President Ivo Josipovic, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, Acting Parliament Speaker Josip Leko, deputy speakers and top government officials as well as Social Democratic Party (SDP) representatives. The Sprem family also accompanied the casket.
The coffin, covered by a Croatian flag, was carried by six Croatian Parliament guards, accompanied by the highest state officials and family members, between two rows of Army servicemen into a hearse which then proceeded in a motorcade to the morgue at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery where the late Sprem will be given a state funeral on Thursday.
Sprem, 56, suffered from multiple myeloma and died at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA, early Sunday morning Central European Time.
The commemoration in the parliament is due to start at 1700 hrs on Wednesday, and the SDP will organise a commemoration for its long-standing member and senior official at 2000 hrs in the party's headquarters in Zagreb.
On Thursday, Sprem's casket will lie in state from 0700 to 1130 hrs in Mirogoj's morgue, with groups of six officials standing guard at the casket every five minutes.
The last rites are to start at noon on Thursday. The religious rites will be conducted by the Auxiliary Bishop of Zagreb, Mijo Gorski, who will also say mass for Sprem in St. Mark's Church at 1800 hrs on Thursday.
