ZAGREB, Aug 1, 2020 – President Zoran Milanovic has interceded with the United States to remove retired Croatian army general Ljubo Cesic Rojs from its blacklist, Vecernji List daily said on Saturday.
Cesic Rojs brought his case to the President’s attention during a recent meeting with 11 retired army generals. His case dates from the time of investigations by the Hague war crimes tribunal when his name was included on a blacklist of the US State Department, which implied a freeze on all of the general’s assets and bank accounts and a ban from travelling to the United States, Canada, and Australia, the newspaper wrote.
His case falls within the authority of the Office for Foreign Assets Control, a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US Treasury Department. Cesic Rojs was included on the blacklist together with generals Ante Gotovina and Rahim Ademi, who were removed from the list after the Hague tribunal acquitted them of war crimes charges. Cesic Rojs, however, has remained on the list and has been knocking on the doors of many Croatian and US institutions, but to no avail, Vecernji List said.
Cesic Rojs was truly surprised when he was recently notified by the US Embassy in Zagreb that his case was finally being dealt with after, as a source at the President’s Office has also confirmed, President Milanovic personally interceded on his behalf.
