Silvije Degen (born 15 June 1942 in

Bjelovar Bjelovar (, , Czech language, Czech: ''Bělovar'' or ''Bělovár,'' Kajkavian dialect, Kajkavian: ''Belovar,'' Latin: ''Bellovarium'') is a city in central Croatia. In the Demographics of Croatia, 2021 census, its population was 36,316 . It is ...

) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n lawyer and politician from

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

. Silvije Degen, a native of Zagreb, in 1980s became one of the best known lawyers in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. This was due to his impeccable fashion sense and tendency to take high-profile criminal cases, best known being the trial of

Andrija Artuković Andrija Artuković (19 November 1899 – 16 January 1988) was a Croatian lawyer, politician, and senior member of the fascist Ustaše movement, who served as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Justice in the Government of the ...

, whom he defended unsuccessfully. In the early 1990s Degen entered politics, becoming a leader of the

Socialist Party of Croatia Socialist Party of Croatia (Croatian language, Croatian: ''Socijalistička stranka Hrvatske'' or ''Socijalistički savez Hrvatske - Savez socijalista Hrvatske'', ''SSH'') was a left-wing political party in Croatia. Before the arrival of multi-par ...

. As such, he made a minor upset in the

1992 Croatian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Croatia for the first time on 2 August 1992 alongside 1992 Croatian parliamentary election, simultaneous parliamentary elections.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p ...

, by finishing fifth with 108,979 or 4.07% of the vote.

References

1942 births Living people People from Bjelovar Croatian lawyers Candidates in the 1992 Croatian presidential election Socialist Party of Croatia politicians {{Croatia-politician-stub