ZAGREB, Croatia – Croatia’s senior army commander was arrested Friday on corruption charges, police said, as the future European Union member-country fulfills its pledge to fight graft and crime on all levels.
Police said Gen. Mladen Kruljac, who has commanded Croatia’s army ground troops since 2007, was detained near capital, Zagreb, on charges of the illegal sale of real estate and land. No other details on the charges were released.
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Kruljac is the highest-ranked serving military officer to be arrested in Croatia since it proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia 20 years ago.
Croatia’s state television HRT said Kruljac, a former boxer, was often accused by media in his native eastern Croatian town of Slavonski Brod as a “mafia boss” who was involved in racketeering, blackmail and a recent shootout during which two people were killed.
The European Union agreed to let Croatia become a member in 2013 after its government pledged to fight crime and corruption on all levels.
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