Yugoslav officials accused of cover-up

Press, 1 December 1988, Page 8

Yugoslav officials accused of cover-up

NZPA-AAP Sydney Sydney’s Croatian community yesterday accused the Yugoslav authorities of trying to cover up for the real gunman involved in the shooting at the Yugoslav Consulate on Sunday by putting forward the wrong man. Barbara Zaher, one of the leading members of the city’s Croatian community, said consulate staff had deliberately stalled police investigations and she feared the real gunman had already been whisked out of the country. She also said she feared the so-called accidental shooting was in fact an attempt to assassinate her. The claims came three days after the shooting of Josef Tokic, aged 16, during a demonstration outside the Yugoslav Consulate in Woollahra.

It appeared Josef Tokic was shot in the neck by a ricocheted bullet fired by one of two gunmen standing inside the Trelawny Street residence as a group of demonstrators scaled the fence of the consulate. Josef Tokic was standing outside the Consulate gates when he was hit. On Tuesday, detectives from Waverley Police Station went to the Consulate to interview a security guard, Matijas Zoran, who was standing in the grounds of the building when the shot was fired. Ms Zaher yesterday said she believed the shot came from a third gunman inside the building and was well aimed, as she was standing next to the boy. "I believe orders were given for the shooting — and I think it is an incred-

ible coincidence that I was standing so near to where the boy was,” said Ms Zaher, who said she had received death threats in the past. “I also believe the bullet came from inside the building because although the action was going on in the middle of the lawn, for that bullet to have come from there was impossible.” Fabian Lovokovic, the editor of the Croatian weekly paper, “Spremnost,” said his staff had taken photographs showing three men with guns inside the Consulate grounds on Sunday and these were passed on to police for further investigation. Josef Tokic’s father, Jure, yesterday said his son was a little better and improving at St Vincent’s Hospital.