Zagreb - Croatian Premier Ivo Sanader, shocked by the murder of the daughter of a prominent political couple, Monday evening sacked two ministers and the country's chief of police and declared a war on the mafia. Sanader said he was sacking Interior Minister Berislav Roncevic and Justice Minister Ana Lovrin and would also fire the chief of police.
His announcement followed the murder earlier in the day of a daughter of prominent lawyer Zvonir Hodak and former deputy premier Ljerka Mintas Hodak in her house in Zagreb.
Sanader declared there would be a determined fight to eliminate organized crime in the country.
"Finally the time has come to settle accounts with the mafia," he declared immediately after news of the murder. "We are no longer going to put up with organized crime and the mafia."
Sanader also ordered the interior minister and general prosecutor, who were on separate official visits to the US and Britain, to return home.
Zvonir Hodak, father of the murder victim, is representing former Croatian general Vladimir Zagorec, who is on trial on charges of embezzlement linked with weapons purchases during the 1991-1995 civil war. Zagorec, who had fled to Austria, was extradited back to Croatia just last week.
