OSCE Mission and international community in Croatia call for urgent action to stop returnee from losing home

ZAGREB, 16 December 2005 - The OSCE Mission to Croatia and other international community principals in Zagreb today expressed their concern over yesterday's court auction of the house of a Croatian Serb returnee.

The returnee, Stevo Zabrdac, was unable to pay compensation to the former temporary occupant for unsolicited investments while residing in the house.

The Delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Croatia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representation in Croatia, and the OSCE Mission call for a prompt solution to this case and 24 similar ones, in which returnees could lose their homes due to gaps in the legal framework.

The principals strongly recommended legal provisions that would prohibit claims for investments by temporary occupants against owners of private property that was under the administration of the Government of Croatia.

Mr Zabrdac, who repossessed his house in September 2003 after a long legal battle, was ordered by the Daruvar Municipal Court in July 2002 to compensate the former temporary occupant, who resided in the dwelling since 1992, with 44,000 Croatian kuna for alleged investments made to the house. These investments were made without the consent of Mr Zabrdac. The Bjelovar County Court later upheld the verdict on appeal.

Yesterday, the former temporary occupant offered 93,000 kuna to buy the house (valued at approximately 190,000 kuna), which if paid to the court within 15 days will result in Mr Zabrdac losing both ownership and possession of his house.