FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7207
[Date:] DEC 87
SUBJECT: YUGOSLAV TERRORIST BARESIC DEPORTED TO PARAGUAY
UNCLAS STOCKHOLM 09310
REF: (A) STOCKHOLM 4252, (B) STOCKHOLM 4419 (NOTAL)
1. Summary and Comment: The Swedish government on December 9 deported Croatian terrorist, Miro Baresic, to Paraguay. Baresic had spent nine years in Swedish prisons for the murder of the Yugoslav Ambassador to Sweden in 1971. Swedish authorities refused to send Baresic to Yugoslavia since Swedish law prohibits deportation that risks a death penalty, but were unwilling to permit him to remain in Sweden. Baresic had lived from 1974-79 in Paraguay after having been released from prison in connection with a 1972 plane hi-jacking. Yugoslav authorities can be expected to again protest Baresic's parole and the fact that he was not returned to Yugoslavia. This decision shifts the Baresic problem elsewhere but is likely to raise criticism from several quarters about Swedish policy in dealing with terrorists. End summary and comment.
2. The Swedish media reported December 9 that the government in a special cabinet meeting on December 8 decided to deport Croatian nationalist, Miro Baresic, to Paraguay together with his wife and two small children. The GoS had earlier decided to parole Baresic on December 10, after he served half of his eighteen year sentence for the murder of the Yugoslav Ambassador in Stockholm in 1971. Strict security measures were exercised in connection with the deportation since authorities reportedly feared that attempts could be made to either kill Baresic, or "rescue" him from deportation.
3. The GoS issued a press release on December 9 stating that it is common practice in Sweden to deport foreign criminals, in most instances, upon completion of their sentence. However, the GoS has been unusually tightlipped about this decision and has avoided direct contact with media representatives. The news agency "TT" reports that Sweden's charge d'affaires in Uruguay, Christer Persson, has gone to Asuncion, but there is no direct confirmation this is in connection with the Baresic case.
4. The deportation of Baresic marks the end for Sweden of a lengthy drama. Baresic, together with two other members of the Croatian terrorist organization, Ustasja, forced their way into the Yugoslav Embassy in April 1971 and shot the ambassador. In the Fall of 1972, a Swedish passenger plane was hi-jacked by a group of Croatians who demanded the release of Baresic and five other croatians from Swedish prisons. They were released and, after a short stay in Spain, Baresic went to Paraguay. He was later arrested while working as a bodyguard at the Paraguayan embassy in Washington. The U.S. extradited Baresic, after he was charged with violation of immigration laws, to Sweden in 1980, and he has since been held in Swedish prisons.
5. On several occasions, Baresic sought a pardon and stated that he wanted to get a residence permit in Sweden for himself and his family. Swedish authorities regularly turned down his requests. Baresic has for the last months been kept in an isolation cell, reportedly for his own protection. Swedish authorities said earlier that they could not guarantee his safety, suggesting that Yugoslav intelligence might attempt to kill him. The Swedish press has reported that he is one of the top names on a Yugoslav "death list." Yugoslavia has been highly critical of Sweden's handling of the Baresic case (ref b). For the GoS, the deportation of Baresic to a country willing to grant him asylum shifts the onus for this problem elsewhere. Newell.