Jasenovac concentration camp commander Sakic dies in Croatian hospital

22/07/2008

ZAGREB, Croatia -- Dinko Sakic, the last surviving commander of a World War II concentration camp, died late on Sunday (July 20th) in a prison hospital in Zagreb. Sakic, 87, suffered from heart problems. In 1998, he was deported from Argentina, where he had been hiding since the war. In 1999, he received a 20-year prison sentence for war crimes against civilians in Jasenovac, Croatia's most notorious World War II concentration camp. The court found him guilty of torture, inhumane treatment and murder of civilians while he commanded the camp between May and October 1944. Sakic, however, never admitted guilt and insisted all his actions were in the interests of Croatia. (24 Sata, Dnevnik, Vjesnik, HINA, AP, Beta, Javno, DPA - 21/07/08)