Ivan Milas (18 October 1939 – 29 July 2011) was a Croatian lawyer and politician.
Milas was born in the village of
Zmijavci near
Imotski in
Zagora, and graduated from the Faculty of Law at the
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...
.
Milas was close to
Marko Veselica and was active in the
Croatian Spring
The Croatian Spring (), or Maspok, was a political conflict that took place from 1967 to 1971 in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, at the time part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As one of six republics comprising Yugoslavi ...
in the early 1970s. In 1972, the authorities of
communist Yugoslavia charged Milas with "actions against the state", arrested and spent six months in jail awaiting trial.
He was released to prepare his defense, and subsequently fled to Austria where he received the status of a refugee. Yugoslavia sought his apprehension, which Austrian courts denied. He was tried
''in absentia'' in Yugoslavia and received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
In 1988 Milas met the Croatian historian and politician
Franjo Tuđman
Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...
and in August 1989 joined his newly formed
Croatian Democratic Union. Milas received a passport to return to Croatia in February 1990
and was elected to the
Croatian Parliament
The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...
in its
first democratic elections.
During the first phase of the
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...
between the summer of 1991 and the spring of 1992, Milas served as the
Deputy Minister of Defence and
Deputy Minister of Justice.
Milas was reelected in the
1992 election, and served as the Minister of Justice from 6 June to 12 August 1992 and was later vice-president in the
Croatian Government
The Government of Croatia (), formally the Government of the Republic of Croatia (), commonly abbreviated to Croatian Government (), is the main executive branch of government in Croatia. It is led by the president of the Government (), infor ...
, under
Hrvoje Šarinić
Hrvoje Šarinić (; 17 February 1935 – 21 July 2017) was a Croatian politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 1992 to 1993.
Šarinić was born in Sušak and graduated from the University of Zagreb then-Faculty of Architecture, ...
.
On 28 May 1995, President Tuđman awarded him with the
Grand Order of King Dmitar Zvonimir. Also in May 1995, the function of the
Keeper of the State Seal () was created, and President Tuđman named Milas to the position
on 6 May 1995, where he remained until 1 February 2000. no other person was named to the position after Milas.
Milas was elected to Sabor again in the
October 1995 election.
Between 1996 and 2000 Milas was a member of the Council of the
Croatian National Bank.
He was last elected to the Croatian Parliament in the
2000 Croatian parliamentary election, where he served until late 2003, when he retired from politics.
Milas gained considerable notoriety in the Croatian public after he publicly expressed his opinion that in the West, brain is valued in kilograms.
Ivan Milas died in Zmijavci at the age of 72.
References
External links
Ivan Milas - 4th assembly of the Croatian Parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milas, Ivan
1939 births
2011 deaths
Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament
Croatian Democratic Union politicians
Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni
Justice ministers of Croatia
People from Imotski
Deputy prime ministers of Croatia