Help for victims of crime and the Salpietro family case

19.4.2018

Question for written answer E-002209-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Flavio Zanonato (S&D) , Elisabetta Gardini (PPE)

On 16 August 2011, Italian husband and wife Francesco Salpietro and Marinella Patella died after a speedboat, driven by Croatian citizen Tomislav Horvatinčić, crashed into their boat in Croatian waters. The process to establish who was responsible for this tragedy lasted more than six years and Mr Horvatinčić was acquitted on all counts and absolved of all civil and criminal liability for the couple’s death.

1. Are the Croatian authorities complying with Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime?

2. Are the rights of EU citizens visiting Croatia, including their right to access to justice, fully protected?

3. Did the Commission support the orphaned Salpietro children during the process and, with a view to ensuring the independence of Croatia’s legal system, monitor the legal processes followed in the case on the death of the Salpietro couple?