Contributed by: Kora Dilic, Croatia National VAW Monitor

The Former Croatian ambassador to Belgium and former secretary of the European Movement in Croatia, Ljubomir Cucic, molested his wife, Magali Boers, for two-and-a-half years. He was sentenced a couple of days ago to 14 months in prison. This is the first such sentence against a high-ranking state official in Croatia. The Court has found that in the period of these two-and-a-half years, 2001 to May 2003, Ljubomir Cucic was, for no reason, molested his wife physically and mentally and that she needed medical and police help for several times. Magali Boers finally took shelter in the Autonomous Women's House in Zagreb. It is a known fact that Ljubomir Cucic often threw shoes, chairs and other furniture at his wife and that he also molested her severely during her pregnancy. Explaining his judgment, the judge of the Municipal Court in Zagreb said that this sentence should be a warning to all other molesters. Cucic, as a public and highly educated person who represented Croatia abroad, should be an example to others, stated the judge.  Ljubomir Cucic and his female lawyer peacefully listened to the sentence proclamation and commented to the media that his trial had actually been a media and political farce with no ending.  The prison sentence for violent behavior in domestic violence cases in Croatia usually ranges between three months and three years.

Compiled from: Cucic ce zbog zlostavljanja odležati 14 mjeseci/Cucic will stay in prison for 14 months because of violent behavior, 24 sata, 9 November 2006.