09/06/23 We Wrote to Plenković to Prevent Dog Rape Case Thrown Out due to Statute of Limitations!
Animal Friends Croatia demand punishment for the monster who sexually abused animals
- Since May, we have been demanding changes to the Penal Code to increase the sentence from one to five years of prison
Animal Friends Croatia wrote to the Prime Minister Andrej Plenković requesting an urgent meeting of all relevant institutions to find a solution and sanction a notorious dog rapist, Ivor Ivanišević. Back in 2015, the Croatian public was shocked by the case of the Member of the European Parliament. A police raid of his Zagreb home found some hundred DVDs and CDs with inappropriate materials, and at least five e-mail addresses from which he sent photos involving sex poses of men and dogs, as well as of sexual organs, together with descriptions of sexual abuse he performed on his own dogs. He was sentenced to a one-year prison sentence in absentia for killing or torturing animals. He was arrested in Belgium in 2023, however, the Belgian authorities have not yet extradited him to Croatia, thus risking the statute of limitations that expires on September 21, which means Ivanišević would remain unpunished!
“We are dealing here with proven physical, psychological, and sexual abuse of dogs and distribution of explicit photos and videos involving sexual activities with dogs. It has been proven beyond doubt that Ivanišević tortured and raped dogs as he documented it all on video. He would starve the dogs and condition them with water and food by providing them only after the dogs allowed him to rape them. Tortured and starved dogs, bearing visible scars and injuries, were placed in Dumovec shelter in Zagreb, where the female soon died of injuries,” explained Snježana Klopotan Kačavenda, Project Co-ordinator at Animal Friends Croatia.
She pointed out that Croatian institutions must prevent the pending statute of limitations! They are appealing to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to urgently find a legal solution to Ivor Ivanišević’s extradition to Croatia in no later than two weeks: “We are disturbed by the possibility that a dangerous person who committed several serious offences may remain free. People who treat animals in such a horrific and abominable way are a danger to animals but also to children. It is disgraceful that such a person continues to work at the European Parliament and has successfully avoided trial in Croatia for years. It is very likely that Ivanišević continues to exert such behaviour with other animals and distribute video and photo contents of animal sexual abuse, encouraged by the inaction of legal institutions and a lack of punishment.” She added that the Croatian public, which has strongly condemned the dog rape and torture committed by Ivor Ivanišević, cannot accept that Croatian institutions are unable to put an end to this case by satisfying justice and saving the reputation of Croatia as a country that does not tolerate animal abuse and rape, or send a message to the perpetrators that by avoiding the legal procedures, they can get away unpunished.
“Although a one-year prison sentence is nowhere near adequate for the suffering that these dogs endured, sanctioning Ivor Ivanišević is extremely important for preventing similar offences and protecting innocent victims. Not only did he commit abominable crimes against dogs but, by distributing video and photographic evidence of the crimes, he enticed others to commit similar horrific crimes,” warned Klopotan Kačavenda.
In May, Animal Friends Croatia sent a proposal for amendments to Penal Code to the Ministry of Justice. They proposed a five-year prison sentence for animal sexual abuse and distribution of material containing such abuse.
They stated that it was the case of Ivor Ivanišević that revealed the extremity and spread of this criminal offence and an Internet-based network of photo and video exchanges where perpetrators compete in raping their dogs in the cruellest way possible. This indicates the existence of high danger for society and the necessity to introduce stricter penalties for the offenders. The insufficient one-year penalty warrants a short statute of limitation.
“The Minister of Justice and Administration, Ivan Malenica, stated yesterday that the Ministry is considering amendments to the Penal Code relating to violence against women and family violence. We, therefore, forwarded to him our demands again, together with a request to put them on the agenda of the relevant working group. It is intolerable for Ivor Ivanišević’s and other cases to be thrown out of court due to the statute of limitations, allowing the offenders to walk away free,” concluded Klopotan Kačavenda.
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