The High Court has ordered Hrvoje Orsolic to be surrendered to Croatia to face prosecution over an alleged attack on a police officer and a separate threat offence.
Croatian authorities allege that Orsolic approached a police officer performing his duties, grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him forward, causing a scratch to his neck. A second charge concerns conduct which the High Court found would correspond in Ireland to making a threat to kill or cause serious injury.
Orsolic was arrested in Ireland on July 26, 2024 on foot of a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Municipal Court in Dubrovnik. He remained on bail while contesting surrender.
His objections included claims that the Croatian issuing authority was not competent, that the allegations did not correspond to Irish offences, that the warrant lacked clarity, and that surrender would interfere disproportionately with his personal and family life. He also raised concerns about delays in the Croatian justice system and conditions in Croatian prisons.
Mr Justice Patrick McGrath rejected each of those arguments. He held that the alleged conduct corresponded to Irish assault, public-order and threat offences, and that the warrant clearly identified the two Croatian offences and the factual allegations behind them.
The most detailed challenge concerned prison conditions. Reports cited by Orsolic raised wider concerns about overcrowding and conditions in Croatia, while a Croatian lawyer said Dubrovnik Prison had previously operated above capacity.
The Croatian authorities nevertheless gave specific assurances that Orsolic would be detained in Dubrovnik Prison with four square metres of personal space, sanitary facilities, drinking water, medical care, daylight, fresh air and at least two hours outdoors daily.
The court found no sufficiently precise evidence undermining those assurances. It noted that reports concerning other Croatian prisons did not establish an Article 3 risk in Dubrovnik itself.
The court therefore dismissed the objections and ordered Orsolic’s surrender under section 16 of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003.