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Croatia's State Prosecutor Forced To Resign Over Masonic Membership


The chief state prosecutor for the nation of Croatia has just been forced to resign his office solely for being a Freemason.


An Associated Press story on February 20th reports that Croatia's State’s Attorney, Dražen Jelenić, came under fire after he publicly acknowledged his membership in a Masonic lodge.

From the AP story:


Jelenic initially refused to resign, saying that being a member of the fraternal organization did not affect his independence. However, the prime minister and other Croatian officials insisted he leave his post as the country’s top prosecutor.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a Cabinet meeting Thursday that membership in an organization or order like a Masonic lodge could undermine public trust in “the integrity of people running the highest institutions.”

“I would like to stress that this does not mean the state attorney has acted against the law or did not perform his duty objectively and independently,“ Plenkovic said. “This duty does not leave any room for doubt in independence or objectivity.”

Jelenic became state’s attorney in 2018. Plenkovic said the government had no prior knowledge of his Masonry affiliation.

A slightly more detailed English-language story appeared on the Balkan Insight website last Thursday:

“This membership is lawful [but it] burdened the performance of my duty as Chief State Prosecutor,” Jelenic said on Wednesday, when he confirmed his resignation.
The weekly Nacional reported on his membership on Tuesday. While explaining it earlier to local media, Jenelic denied belonging to a secret or semi-secret organisation, and said it was just a civic association registered in accordance with the law, so there was no conflict of interest.
Jelenic told the media that he was invited to join a freemasonry association in March 2018, a month before being named to his post as chief prosecutor.
The association was registered as a non-profit dedicated to “promoting masonic worldviews, above all general morality, culture and love for one’s fellow man and charity”, according to the Croatian Registry of Associations.
However, Croatian officials are obliged to declare their membership of associations or organisations to the Commission for the Resolution of Conflicts of Interest, which Jelenic failed to do.
The resignation followed only days after media reported that several journalists from the tabloid Dnevno.hrand its sister print weekly, 7Dnevno, had been arrested for allegedly trying to blackmail an ophthalmologist over his links to the same masonic association.
Nikica Gabric claimed the journalists had tried to blackmail him into buying 27,000 euros worth of advertising space in the weekly in exchange for not publishing pictures of him attending masonic ceremonies. Jelenic had become involved in the affair, after accusing Gabric of trying to influence the investigation into the Dnevno.hr journalists. On Wednesday, Jelenic clarified his statement, saying Gabric had clearly been the victim of attempted blackmail.
President Zoran Milanovic made it clear he supported the prosecutor’s departure. He said that everyone who was a member of a masonic association and was doing a public job or was a public official, notably in law enforcement, was unnecessarily bringing into question their objectivity and loyalty.
Jelenic was appointed to his post in April 2018. He earlier served as president of the State Judicial Council, and as a municipal prosecutor and county prosecutor.

In additional articles I have found so far, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković declared that Jelenić's Masonic membership constituted a case of what he called "dual loyalty," which is frequently cited by anti-Masons as an excuse for persecuting members of law enforcement, the judiciary or in government positions over their Masonic membership. These are the sort of accusations that were common in the late 1990s and early 2000's during the English witch hunts against Masons by their Home Secretary, Jack Straw.

A story on the N1 website gave more details about the blackmail end of the story and what is already being called the "Masonic Affair":

The unusual scandal began unravelling last week, when a prominent Croatian eye doctor, Nikica Gabric, reported to the police that journalists of the popular tabloid website Dnevno.hr and its weekly print issue 7Dnevno were threatening to publish photographs showing Gabric attending masonic ceremonies.

Gabric claimed that, in exchange for not publishing the photographs, the journalists wanted him to buy 200,000 kuna (€27,000) worth of advertising space in the 7Dnevno weekly. The police investigation was opened, resulting in arrests of Dnevno.hr’s editor-in-chief, his deputy, and the website’s owner. According to Gabric, the arrested editor-in-chief’s deputy is also a member of the same masonic lodge.
The first Masonic lodge in Croatia and the Balkans was established in 1764 by Croatian Count Ivan Drašković VIII. The first Grand Lodge of Croatia was established in 1778, but the fraternity was shut down in 1795 across Croatia, Austria and Hungary after conspirators with Masonic membership hatched a failed revolutionary plot in the region. Lodges would reopen again, only to be shut down throughout much of the 19th century at various times. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, Croatia was handed over to the Kingdom of Serbia and eventually became part of Yugoslavia. Freemasonry was reestablished under the grand Lodge of Serbia and flourished from 1919 until the pro-Nazi fascists came to power in Croatia in 1940. Jews, Serbs and Freemasons were persecuted, arrested and murdered, and many were removed to the Jasenovac Concentration Camp. After Yugoslavia's collapse in 1941, the new government of the Independent State of Croatia completely banned Freemasonry once again, and it remained illegal after the end of World War II for another 51 years.

After the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the re-formation of the nation of Croatia, the Grand Lodge of Austria formed a 'provisional lodge' in Vienna with the task of raising and educating a whole new generation of Masons who would eventually be able to revive the Grand Lodge of Croatia. In 1994, the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Croatia was successfully registered as a civil society with the Croatian Ministry of Public Administration.

An English-language website for Freemasonry in Croatia today can be found at http://www.freemasonry-croatia.org/indexen.htm

uNL9y9W8lTk


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Bloke

Premium Member
There is an update on this Bro Chris has posted...

.....“This membership is lawful [but it] burdened the performance of my duty as Chief State Prosecutor,” Jelenic said on Wednesday, when he confirmed his resignation..... While explaining it earlier to local media, Jenelic denied belonging to a secret or semi-secret organisation, and said it was just a civic association registered in accordance with the law, so there was no conflict of interest.....However, Croatian officials are obliged to declare their membership of associations or organisations to the Commission for the Resolution of Conflicts of Interest, which Jelenic failed to do..

@coachn
@Glen Cook

I wonder what Brethren think of this when they think about it.

And I'm thinking about it.. (after the death of a brother today, a very long stressful day, and a couple of stiff gins). Thinking about this is probably a welcome distraction..

Firstly, I would say, I have declared my membership of Freemasonry as a (potential) conflict of interest.
I have done so, because, in one of my many capacities I could be making financial decisions about applications for Grant Money from Masonic Lodges or related entities... This might give me a bias, but I think not, because I would judge an application on its merits, however I would bring to the table an expectation Freemasons would be trustworthy (is that a bias?) ... I don't think I would have a conflict of interest (in the legal sense or indeed cognitive sense) but perception is everything, and perception is reality, and I would hate to bring a good project or the Craft, or myself, into disrepute because of someone's perception.. We use a matrix to measure merit of application, and it's obvious (to me) that I would not fudge the numbers because I have integrity (as all Freemasons should)... so it's kinda moot, but more that happy to be asked if I am bias - because we should always ask ourselves such questions; Freemason or not... hence the declaration seems sound....

I have declared my membership of Freemasonry because in other capacities, I could be making decisions on bonuses for staff who are members of lodges... indeed I later found that is the case... Again, I might have a cognitive bias, but frankly doubt it.. in a commercial world, indeed in life, I must act without detriment to myself or my connections, and my fiduciary obligations as a Director (i.e. The Law of the Land) trumps any fraternal affection.. if you know ritual (well, my ritual) its very clear that's the case... And again, we use a matrix to determine merit..

But it's all about perception...

Yes, I can understand why this man thought there was no conflict.. if anything, I think most good masons might actually be harder on a Brother in Court because they have not lived up to the values we live... but, again. should people have to declare they are Rotarians or were Boy Scouts because the same might apply? Might they be more lenient on people of the same Church or Faith ??? Should that be declared ?

Can this story just be dismissed as politics ? Is it prejudice ? What do you make of the OP ?
 

TonyT2020

Registered User

The chief state prosecutor for the nation of Croatia has just been forced to resign his office solely for being a Freemason.


An Associated Press story on February 20th reports that Croatia's State’s Attorney, Dražen Jelenić, came under fire after he publicly acknowledged his membership in a Masonic lodge.

From the AP story:


Jelenic initially refused to resign, saying that being a member of the fraternal organization did not affect his independence. However, the prime minister and other Croatian officials insisted he leave his post as the country’s top prosecutor.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a Cabinet meeting Thursday that membership in an organization or order like a Masonic lodge could undermine public trust in “the integrity of people running the highest institutions.”

“I would like to stress that this does not mean the state attorney has acted against the law or did not perform his duty objectively and independently,“ Plenkovic said. “This duty does not leave any room for doubt in independence or objectivity.”

Jelenic became state’s attorney in 2018. Plenkovic said the government had no prior knowledge of his Masonry affiliation.

A slightly more detailed English-language story appeared on the Balkan Insight website last Thursday:

“This membership is lawful [but it] burdened the performance of my duty as Chief State Prosecutor,” Jelenic said on Wednesday, when he confirmed his resignation.
The weekly Nacional reported on his membership on Tuesday. While explaining it earlier to local media, Jenelic denied belonging to a secret or semi-secret organisation, and said it was just a civic association registered in accordance with the law, so there was no conflict of interest.
Jelenic told the media that he was invited to join a freemasonry association in March 2018, a month before being named to his post as chief prosecutor.
The association was registered as a non-profit dedicated to “promoting masonic worldviews, above all general morality, culture and love for one’s fellow man and charity”, according to the Croatian Registry of Associations.
However, Croatian officials are obliged to declare their membership of associations or organisations to the Commission for the Resolution of Conflicts of Interest, which Jelenic failed to do.
The resignation followed only days after media reported that several journalists from the tabloid Dnevno.hrand its sister print weekly, 7Dnevno, had been arrested for allegedly trying to blackmail an ophthalmologist over his links to the same masonic association.
Nikica Gabric claimed the journalists had tried to blackmail him into buying 27,000 euros worth of advertising space in the weekly in exchange for not publishing pictures of him attending masonic ceremonies. Jelenic had become involved in the affair, after accusing Gabric of trying to influence the investigation into the Dnevno.hr journalists. On Wednesday, Jelenic clarified his statement, saying Gabric had clearly been the victim of attempted blackmail.
President Zoran Milanovic made it clear he supported the prosecutor’s departure. He said that everyone who was a member of a masonic association and was doing a public job or was a public official, notably in law enforcement, was unnecessarily bringing into question their objectivity and loyalty.
Jelenic was appointed to his post in April 2018. He earlier served as president of the State Judicial Council, and as a municipal prosecutor and county prosecutor.
In additional articles I have found so far, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković declared that Jelenić's Masonic membership constituted a case of what he called "dual loyalty," which is frequently cited by anti-Masons as an excuse for persecuting members of law enforcement, the judiciary or in government positions over their Masonic membership. These are the sort of accusations that were common in the late 1990s and early 2000's during the English witch hunts against Masons by their Home Secretary, Jack Straw.

A story on the N1 website gave more details about the blackmail end of the story and what is already being called the "Masonic Affair":

The unusual scandal began unravelling last week, when a prominent Croatian eye doctor, Nikica Gabric, reported to the police that journalists of the popular tabloid website Dnevno.hr and its weekly print issue 7Dnevno were threatening to publish photographs showing Gabric attending masonic ceremonies.

Gabric claimed that, in exchange for not publishing the photographs, the journalists wanted him to buy 200,000 kuna (€27,000) worth of advertising space in the 7Dnevno weekly. The police investigation was opened, resulting in arrests of Dnevno.hr’s editor-in-chief, his deputy, and the website’s owner. According to Gabric, the arrested editor-in-chief’s deputy is also a member of the same masonic lodge.
The first Masonic lodge in Croatia and the Balkans was established in 1764 by Croatian Count Ivan Drašković VIII. The first Grand Lodge of Croatia was established in 1778, but the fraternity was shut down in 1795 across Croatia, Austria and Hungary after conspirators with Masonic membership hatched a failed revolutionary plot in the region. Lodges would reopen again, only to be shut down throughout much of the 19th century at various times. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, Croatia was handed over to the Kingdom of Serbia and eventually became part of Yugoslavia. Freemasonry was reestablished under the grand Lodge of Serbia and flourished from 1919 until the pro-Nazi fascists came to power in Croatia in 1940. Jews, Serbs and Freemasons were persecuted, arrested and murdered, and many were removed to the Jasenovac Concentration Camp. After Yugoslavia's collapse in 1941, the new government of the Independent State of Croatia completely banned Freemasonry once again, and it remained illegal after the end of World War II for another 51 years.


After the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the re-formation of the nation of Croatia, the Grand Lodge of Austria formed a 'provisional lodge' in Vienna with the task of raising and educating a whole new generation of Masons who would eventually be able to revive the Grand Lodge of Croatia. In 1994, the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Croatia was successfully registered as a civil society with the Croatian Ministry of Public Administration.

An English-language website for Freemasonry in Croatia today can be found at http://www.freemasonry-croatia.org/indexen.htm

uNL9y9W8lTk


Continue reading...
Wow, thank you for sharing. Very horrible to see such discrimination against the brotherhood. I pray for his continued health, success, and travels.
 
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