Opposition MPs on Wednesday called on the Chief State Attorney, Ivan Turdić, to show responsibility at a 'critical moment' and to initiate proceedings against those who poisoned Lika with hazardous waste. The call was made ahead of the debate on the 2025 report of the State Attorney's Office (DORH).
Nikola Grmoja of Most stated that Croatia needs a Chief State Attorney who is completely independent, who does not have murky 'deals' with suspicious characters, and who understands that he must answer to the Croatian Parliament, and through it, to the people. He requested a pause in the debate on the report and called on Turbić to use his power, show courage, and open all the drawers in the State Attorney's Office, including his criminal complaints. He also called on the Chief State Attorney to initiate proceedings against those who poisoned Lika and the people, adding that the ruling coalition's inaction would be punished by the people at the elections.
The representative of the IDS, Dalibor Paus, called for the publication of the results of the waste analysis carried out from Gospić to Koromačno. He stated that the public has the right to know, as the Chief State Attorney said when the DORH published the results of the Gospić waste analysis, and that the people of Koromačno and the Labin region have the same right.
Boško Miličević (D) touched on the issue of waste in Gospić, pointing out that the moment they are debating the 2025 report is not neutral. He stated that what happened in Lika was a horror and a direct blow to people's health. He told Turbić that he had come to the most disgraced position in Croatia, but that he still had the opportunity to illuminate the face of the DORH and his own. He told him that this was a moment of crisis, that he should be aware of the responsibility and the opportunity, and that he should do the job for Lika as it should be done.
The representative of the Možemo! party, Urša Raukar, stated that, according to the data in the DORH report, crime related to the import and disposal of waste had exploded from 32 cases in 2024 to 103 in 2025. She asked why the DORH had not, invoking the precautionary principle, allowed the remediation of the waste site in Gospić. She stated that they had allowed the soil and groundwater to be poisoned for three years, and that the government had done nothing, and that the government was responsible, as was the DORH, which should have identified that the people and the environment needed to be protected.
Tonci Restović (SDP) stated that everyone was eagerly awaiting the indictment for the waste case in Gospić, which the Chief State Attorney had announced would be brought forward in the next two weeks. The DP's Stipo Mlinarić called on the Turbić not to succumb to hysteria, but to appeal to the DORH to focus more on the prosecution of war crimes.
On the other hand, the ruling coalition considered the opposition's call to be political pressure. Željko Lacković (Independent and HSU) accused the opposition of inappropriate political pressure on the work of the independent body. He said that their statements indicated that the Chief State Attorney should be given instructions on how to be a political inquisitor in the pursuit of the opposition's goals. The HDZ's Ivan Malenić returned to the merit of the report, in which, he said, the positive results of the DORH's work were first seen.
