The Croatian government put forward a proposal to parliament on Thursday to remove the statute of limitations from the constitution for all first-degree murders and not just politically motivated murders.
The proposal came from 46 MPs from the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP).
A separate law would be passed to specify the crimes not subject to the statute of limitations, and the government proposed including a special provision saying that the statute of limitations should neither apply to first-degree murders for which the statute of limitations has already taken effect.
If the motion receives the support of two-thirds of the MPs, the Constitution will stipulate that the statute of limitations will not apply to crimes of war profiteering, privatisation-related crimes committed during the Homeland War and peaceful reintegration of occupied areas (1991-1998), grave crimes committed in time of war or an imminent threat of war, and first-degree murders that do not fall under the statute of limitations under international law.
Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic said that this parliamentary initiative was "quite rational and reasonable because during the (Yugoslav) regime it was not possible to prosecute people who killed for it."
Since the definition of a first-degree murder has changed through history, a separate law will be enacted to list all crimes that constitute a first-degree murder, the minister said.
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