Zagreb, a capital da Croácia, foi sacudida por um ataque com carro bomba dirigido ao editor-em-chefe e publicador do semanário político croata Nacional [En], Ivo Pukanić [En], e que matou tanto ele quanto seu colega jornalista Niko Franjić nesta quinta-feira.

Arhangel faz um resumo [Hr] com alguns detalhes:

…tonight around 18:20 pm in Palmotić street in Zagreb in the courtyard of “Nacional” an explosive device killed Ivo Pukanić, chief executive NCL, and Niko Franjić, his colleague. As I was first informed of the news, a remote control detonated the explosive device under Pukanić's Lexus. Croatia is in shock.

Price iz Becke sume complementa [Hr], expressando o mesmo sentimento:

I can not believe, still one mafioso murder in the middle of town, in the middle of the day! Ivo Pukanic killed and a journalist colleague from Nacional. Horror!

E o blogue Funky Business escreveu [Hr] sobre a situação nas ruas do centro de Zagreb, uma cidade de 1 milhão de habitantes:

…central Zagreb was blocked. On the streets of the capital of the government there is fear, disbelief and panic among citizens. It is recommended to restrict movement for all citizens of the city center due to blockade of police who are trying to blockade a large circle around the town to close a crime that evidence would not be destroyed.

Enquanto chefe do jornal croata Nacional [Hr], muitos viam Pukanić como um homem marcado. Ivo também acreditava que havia um plano de assassinato armado contra ele, mas muitos duvidavam disso. Infelizmente, eles estavam errados, como apontou [Hr] Denis Avdagić em seu blogue:

…clearly, and to all who doubted that the previous assassination attempt on Pukanić – were completely wrong!

A Cidade Alta de Zagreb, Croácia. Foto por Hudin

Zagreb, que vinha constantemente se esforçando para ser uma capital européia apropriada, repentinamente sentiu a confiança de seus cidadãos ser erodida por este e outros recentes eventos de brutal violência. ViN escreve [Hr] mais a respeito:

Is it time for the mass but little severe protests? Can the police stop all this? Can I help a recent shift in the ministries of Interior and Justice? I doubt it. Can the people change it? Because I believe that today is not easy to be a resident of Zagreb. This will not only stop so easily.

É desnecessário dizer que este evento irá evoluir nos próximos dias, conforme mais detalhes vierem à tona. Apenas então será possível atribuir culpas e entender o que significa este recente ataque à segurança e à imprensa livre da Croácia, que se prepara para entrar nos diálogos com a União Européia no ano que vem.

Atualização:

Miquel Hudin Balsa complementa o artigo com uma contextualização [En] a respeito do que anda acontecendo na Croácia:

The newspaper scene in Croatia is a bit of a free for all. Papers will general level baseless attacks at one another and various political figures. Sometimes what they say turns out to be turn. Other times it turns out to be forgotten.
In the case of Ivo, he has suffered a rather relentless campaign against him for his career. He has been accused of being in the mafia himself as being paid off by various people. He had managed to continue to publish his paper despite this and the fact that Jutarnji List had become the #1 paper in Croatia.
As to who might be behind the killing, it’s hard to say. Ivo had made a great number of enemies over the years. It could also just be part of the escalating violence in the city where he was a popular target to hit.
Assuming that the police (who have done little in these recent matters) pull together any sort of story, I’m guessing that we’ll hear more about this in the next week or so.