Vladimir Šeks

Vladimir Šeks (born 1 January 1943) is a Croatian lawyer and centre-right politician. He has been as a representative in the Croatian Parliament since the nation's independence, and has held the posts of the Speaker of the Parliament, as well as Deputy Prime Minister of the Government. He also served as acting President of the Croatian Democratic Union and Leader of the Opposition from 5 January to 30 April 2000.

Vladimir Šeks
Speaker of the Croatian Parliament
In office 22 December 2003 – 11 January 2008
Preceded by	Zlatko Tomčić
Succeeded by	Luka Bebić
Leader of the Opposition Acting
In office 5 January 2000 – 30 April 2000
Preceded by	Dražen Budiša
Succeeded by	Ivo Sanader
Leader of the Croatian Democratic Union Acting
In office 5 January 2000 – 30 April 2000
Preceded by	Franjo Tuđman
Succeeded by	Ivo Sanader
Personal details
Born	(1943-01-01) 1 January 1943 Osijek, Independent State of Croatia (now Croatia)
Nationality	Croatian
Political party	Croatian Democratic Union
Other political affiliations	League of Communists of Croatia (Before 1990)
Alma mater	University of Zagreb

He graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Law in 1966.

From 1972 to 1981, he worked as a lawyer until his arrest for "anti-state actions" against communist Yugoslavia. He served 13 months in the prison at Stara Gradiška. Later, he was an attorney for dissidents, including the "Belgrade Six" (1984–85).[1]

In 1990, Šeks was one of the founders of the Osijek branch of the Croatian Democratic Union. In 1991, he was one of the main drafters of the Constitution of Croatia. In 1992, he was named the State Prosecutor of the Republic of Croatia. He was a deputy of the President of the Government of Croatia under Hrvoje Šarinić and Nikica Valentić from 1992–95. Šeks served as the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament from 22 December 2003 until 11 January 2008.

His 25-year-old son Domagoj, was found dead in Goa, India on 26 February 2005 after he was reported missing by friends a day earlier. The exact circumstances of his death were never determined.[2]

In 2009, he testified in the Branimir Glavaš trial as a witness for the defence, and his testimony was later dismissed by the presiding judge as "completely implausible", and the court rendered a guilty verdict.[3][4]

In 2010, Amnesty International issued a statement that Šeks should be prosecuted based upon testimony from the Glavaš trial.[5][6]

In January 2011 the Ministry of Justice responded to the AI report saying their conclusions were "arbitrary and wrong" in the case of Šeks.[7]

In 1997, Šeks declined to prosecute Miro Bajramović (a former police officer), Nebojša Hodak, Munib Suljić, and Igor Mikola, four members of the "Autumn Rains" unit of Tomislav Merčep during the Yugoslav wars. The men began running an elaborate detention center in Poljana Pakračka, southeast of Zagreb, where prisoners were tortured with electric shocks or doused with gasoline and burned alive. Bajramović said nearly all the prisoners were executed and buried in mass graves.[8][9][10] Some of the men, including Bajramović, were later indicted and tried by local courts, but not the ICTY. Bajramović, who stated that his unit had killed 280 people in Poljana Pakračka and between 90 and 110 in Gospić,[9] received a sentence of 12 years in prison.

Honours

• Grand Order of King Petar Krešimir IV (2008) – 3rd-highest Croatian state award and the 16th of its kind awarded since its establishment.[11]

References

1. Violations of the Helsinki Accords, Yugoslavia. The U.S. Helsinki Watch Committee. November 1986. p. 12. Vladimir Seks, attorney for Vladimir Mijanovic in the "Belgrade Six" trial was himself imprisoned on February 12, 1985, to serve a seven-month sentence in connection with a 1981 conviction on charges of "hostile propaganda".
2. "Uporna potraga za ubojicom Domagoja Šeksa". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 29 May 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
3. "Šeks na suđenju Glavašu: Ne znam ništa o zločinima u Osijeku". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Croatian). 5 February 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
4. "Svjedoci obmane: Šeks i Kramarić lagali na suđenju Glavašu" [Witnesses to deception: Šeks and Kramarić lied at Glavaš trial]. Nacional (in Croatian). 3 November 2009. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
5. "Amnesty o ratnim zločinima: Zašto su Šeks, Merčep i Domazet nedodirljivi?". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 8 December 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
6. "Croatia urged to speed up war crimes prosecutions". Amnesty International. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
7. "Ministarstvo pravosuđa: Haag nije tražio Lošu, ali radimo izvide". Večernji list (in Croatian). 18 January 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
8. Croatian's confession describes torture and killing on vast scale, nytimes.com, 5 September 1997; accessed 2 August 2015.
9. Miro Bajramović profile, aimpress.ch, 7 November 1997; accessed 2 August 2015.
10. Testimonies, balkanpeace.org; accessed 2 August 2015.
11. "Mesić odlikovao Šeksa najvišim odličjem koji može dobiti predsjednik parlamenta" (in Croatian). Index.hr. 29 December 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2015.

Party political offices
Preceded by Franjo Tuđman	President of Croatian Democratic Union (acting) 5 January 2000 – 30 April 2000	Succeeded by Ivo Sanader
Political offices
Preceded by Zlatko Tomčić	Speaker of the Croatian Parliament 22 December 2003 – 11 January 2008	Succeeded by Luka Bebić