Minister of the Interior Marijan Mlinaric of Croatia
When asked whether due to the latest string of police omission, the current Interior Minister Marijan Mlinaric was to put his mandate at the disposal of the government, the Interior Ministry spokesperson Zlatko Mehun said that Mlinaric was on leave for the past two weeks due to heart problems.
There was no official explanation for the change of Croatia's top police official, but media speculated Mlinaric had not shown enough effort to catch fugitive war crimes suspect general Ante Gotovina.
Mlinaric was a surgeon who had never before dealt with crime and security issues, Kirin was soon the laughingstock of the government for a series of gaffs, including the photographed hunting trip with Mladen Markac, former HV commander who is now standing trial for war crimes before the ICTY.
Croatian Interior Minister Marijan Mlinaric is expected to resign soon due to health reasons, state-run HRT television said last Monday quoting well-informed sources.
There was however no official confirmation that Mlinaric was leaving his post in Prime Minister Ivo Sanaders centre-right government.
wrong information that Gotovina was in Croatia.