Trial Reopens in 1999 Murder Case as Statute of Limitations Nears

A 1999 murder case is returning to Zagreb County Court with only 38 days remaining before the statute of limitations expires. Krešimir Gilja is again due to stand trial over a shooting outside Star’s Caffe that killed Mirko Rimac and wounded Iva Jurić and Berigoj Vukojević.

Rimac had come from Canada to watch a football match between Croatia and the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in European Championship qualifying. Gilja was convicted in 2009 and received a combined seven-year prison sentence, but the Constitutional Court later annulled the judgment after finding a violation of his right to a defense. The Supreme Court had previously upheld the conviction.

Gilja initially went into hiding after the killing and surrendered to authorities in 2001, maintaining that he was not guilty. The case also involved two pistols. His acquaintance, Domagoj Novak, brought a weapon to court in late 1999 and said he had struggled over it with an unknown man before firing into the ground. Prosecutors rejected that account.

Gilja later appeared with another pistol, saying he had taken it from an unknown man but had not fired it. The court halted proceedings in 2002 after declining to accept the indictment because of the two weapons. Following a prosecution appeal, authorities ruled that Gilja should still face trial. Proceedings began in 2006 and ended with the 2009 conviction.