Dubrovnik's Fuego nightclub in the Pile quarter, where Britt Lapthorne was last seen and where police officers, say the three foreign women, tried to assault themThe acknowledgement from Krunoslav Borovec, the head of the Office of the Police General Directorate, at a press conference held last week in Valbadon, that the photofits of two men, possible kidnappers or molesters of three young Australian women, seen on the Sunday Night show on Australian television's Channel 7, fit two officers of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County police force, has opened many questions. At the time Borovec did not, which would have been logical, state their names, but did underline that they were exemplary police officers. Nacional published the identities of the two Dubrovnik police officers, Ivica Rudinovic and Dragan Palameta. It was clear right away that the explanation that it was in fact these police officers that had ID-ed some foreign women in the line of duty seemed unusual.

There is a growing amount of evidence, leads and indications that the Police General Directorate knows that there are grounds to believe that some Dubrovnik police officers are deeply embroiled in the Lapthorne case. The Police General Directorate is aware that there were many omissions in the investigation that followed the disappearance of the young Australian women. A thorough investigation into the omissions and the possible complicity of Dubrovnik police force officers in this case would indicate a number of illegalities and criminal activities during the time Ivan Kresic, dismissed 39 days after the disappearance of Britt Lapthorne, was the Dubrovnik police chief. The first move made by new Police General Director Vladimir Faber was to dismiss chief Kresic on 27 October 2008.

Nacional has learned from sources close to the police that they have begun a detailed investigation into the legality of the actions of all of those involved in processing the case of the mysterious disappearance and death of Britt Lapthorne. This police probe into the legality of the conduct also encompasses the conduct of Ivica Rudinovic and Dragan Palameta, who have now been connected with possible assaults on women, foreign tourists, in Dubrovnik, before and after Britt Lapthorne came to harm. The Police General Directorate is carrying out this probe because it is aware that there were many omissions in the investigation that followed the disappearance of Britt Lapthorne, and these omissions were the immediate cause, but not the only reason from the purge carried out at the Dubrovnik police force – on Monday 70 percent of the local command personnel were relieved of their duties.

Nacional has learned from sources close to Government that Rudinovic and Palameta, the Dubrovnik police officers that the three foreign women described as persons who tried to assault them while they were in Dubrovnik, were together on patrol in Dubrovnik at the time in question, in civilian clothing, carrying out their routine duties, which the police call on-street narcotics reduction. At the time in question they ID-ed two of the three foreign women who have accused them of trying to kidnap and assault them, Nacional has learned from sources close to the police. They did so once on their own initiative, and a second time after a citizen's report of a ruckus in the park near the Fuego nightclub. The reports they wrote after that evening are said to state that the two foreign women they ID-ed were heavily intoxicated, and possibly also under the influence of narcotics, and that one male, a person they also ID-ed, swore at them. And it was to them, in fact, that the foreign woman who has accused them of an attempted assault complained that unknown assailants tried to assault her. But, since neither of the two spoke fluent English, they allegedly called for assistance from their colleagues, who would better understand any statements taken from them. Sources close to the police say that it would have made no sense for the two of them to have called their colleagues to take statements on an attempted assault and kidnapping if they were, in fact, the persons the foreign woman was referring to.

Information has, however, reached Nacional that some people close to the police have no doubts at all that Rudinovic and Palameta, and some other Dubrovnik police officers, together with the foreign women, drove about Dubrovnik at night in MPVs, and that some of them were pulled in to the vehicles. It is possible that these claims are being checked out as a part of the probe into the legality of the conduct of Croatian police in connection with the Britt Lapthorne case.

Nacional has learned that Australian reporters from Sydney's Sunday Telegraph, who ten days ago, on Saturday, ran the photos of Rudinovic and Palameta, knew that the two were in fact being connected to the attempted assault of the foreign women in Dubrovnik long before the Croatian police officially announced at the beginning of last week that the photofits shown in the documentary film aired on the Sunday Night show on Australian television's Channel 7 were officers with the Dubrovnik police force. The Australian reporters knew exactly who was depicted by the photofits days before Nacional first revealed their identity to the Croatian public last Tuesday.

As soon as the public learned the identities of the two police officers, Rudinovic and Palameta, the two were kept out of sight. Sources close to the police have told Nacional that top officials in the Dubrovnik police department, by all accounts in agreement with the General Police Directorate, advised Palameta and Rudinovic to steer wide of inquisitive reporters. They say that they are not on sick leave – but how is it possible for them to carry out their duties and hide from the public and journalists?

Some people close to Government suspect that the Australian reporters could have learned of their identity from the Australian police officers that, a few months ago, together with the Dubrovnik police, POLICE OFFICERS Dragan Palameta (large photo) and Ivica Rudinovic (left); the photofits from the Australian film fit the two Dubrovnik police officerstried to shed light on the circumstances of the disappearance and death of Britt Lapthorne. Among the eight Australian police officers was one of Serbian extraction, who understands Croatian well, and who is currently serving at the Australian embassy in Belgrade.

It is possible that these Australian police officers told Australian reporters what they learned while in Dubrovnik, and it has not been ruled out that they learned then from local police that Palameta and Rudinovic were being connected with suspicious behaviour in connection with foreign female tourists in Dubrovnik. As soon as the documentary film was aired ten days ago with photofits of a black-haired and blonde-haired man, the Dubrovnik police connected the photofits with them. Disciplinary procedures had previously been carried out against Ivica Rudinovic, a 38-year-old from the Dubrovnik area village of Osojnik, which ended with disciplinary action against him. Rudinovic had from 1996 been with the Special Police Force. After the disciplinary action he was transferred to beat cop duty.

The top man at the Dubrovnik crime scene police is Durica Gustin. Rudinovic's dubious testimony covered for him eight years ago in the Orka case. Gustin, the head and instructor of the crime scene team, and Stipe Miksic, were on trial at the time on charges that they had taken members of the Special Police Force to the Orka restaurant on the Lapad waterfront, physically abused the owner, Nikola Miletic, and caused him grievous bodily harm. And although it was evident that the police commandos had assaulted Miletic, thanks to the testimony given by Rudinovic, Durica Gustin was cleared of the charges. Rudinovic testified that the accused did not strike Miletic's head against the wall, but that Miletic himself had dragged his forehead against the wall, while the accused placed their hands on his forehead to prevent him from injuring himself. It was not long afterwards that Gustin became commander of the crime scene police, where he now serves. The testimony given by Ivica Rudinovic in the Orka case certainly does not befit an exemplary police officer, as interior ministry officials presented him to the public. But that does not necessarily mean that he is guilty of what he is being connected to. What is more, speaking in favour of his innocence is not only that his neighbours speak well of him, but also the fact that one of the victims from the Australian documentary did not recognise him as an assailant when shown a photograph of him, even though the photofit that has been brought into connection with Rudinovic was made on the basis of the description she gave.

Dragan Palameta is a long-serving police officer and has never been subject to disciplinary action. He worked in the crime investigation department of the police, first in the organised crime department, and subsequently in the narcotics department. He is now serving as an inspector in that department. What could Palameta have been doing in front of the Fuego nightclub for foreign tourists to link him to persons that assaulted them? Palameta may have been taking part in a police operation or raid at the Fuego nightclub, but it has not yet been established that that is what took place there at the time in question.

A police search for the dark blue vehicle that was seen on the surveillance camera footage at the Pile quarter aired in the Australian documentary film, has allegedly turned up nothing. It is as if that kind of vehicle does not exist in Dubrovnik. Based on the information available to Nacional, there are three or four MPV vehicles in Dubrovnik very similar to the one seen in the documentary film. It has been established that Dubrovnik taxi drivers do not drive any such vehicle, which frequently pick up guests at Pile and frequently stop in front of the Fuego nightclub, where the events in question took place. According to the information available to Nacional, the Dubrovnik police force has one such official vehicle, a Volkswagen Sharan.

The omissions in the processing of the case of Britt Lapthorne opens questions as to whether there were any other illegalities or criminal activity the Dubrovnik police may have taken part in while Ivan Kresic, dismissed 39 days after the disappearance of Britt Lapthorne, was at the helm of the Dubrovnik police force. Kresic came to the helm of the Dubrovnik police force as a political appointee by a HDZ decision. There are claims that he is a person in the confidence of Luka Bebic, the Speaker of Parliament.

Now the Police General Directorate, probably not just in the Lapthorne case, is facing the legacy of Ivan Kresic. It is possible that it was, in fact, his people in the Dubrovnik police force that refused to carry out an investigation into the possible connection between Dubrovnik police officers Rudinovic and Palameta and the attempted assault of three foreign women, and perhaps with the disappearance of Britt Lapthorne.
And while the new chief of the Dubrovnik police force, Zlatko Sokolar, is doing his outmost to make some positive progress, most of the Dubrovnik police force has remained interspersed with Kresic's people.

That Sokolar is very much aware of this fact is best demonstrated by the purge he has carried out and which has seen the dismissals of almost 70 percent of the command personnel in the local police force. Instead of Ivan Kukrika, Tonci Glumac has been named to the post of Sokolar's deputy. Glumac had previously been head of the police station at Cilipi Airport. Appointed to Glumac's post was Duro Miladin, who had been the assistant chief for border protection at the Gruda police station. Ivica Franic is no longer head of the police station in Ploce. As of yesterday he is a police officer for youth delinquency at the police station in Metkovic. Dalibor Setka has been transferred from the post of chief of the operations and communications centre to the post of chief of the police station in Ploce. Miro Bajo has been promoted from the post of police officer for youth delinquency at the Metkovic police station to the post of head of the organised crime unit at the crime investigation department. Zlatko Karacic has been demoted from that post to the post of police officer for supervision and planning in the technical department. Ivan Ercegovic has been transferred from the post of shift head at the maritime police station in Dubrovnik to the post of head of the department for maritime and airport police in the border control department.

Three sources have told Nacional that there are suspicions that some members of the Dubrovnik Special Police Force, and now of the crime scene police, have for years been providing "protection" for a number of successful Dubrovnik clubs, cafés and nightclubs. From whom – difficult and intoxicated guests, vandals and hooligans or beautiful women – is not known. The same sources say that some members of the police force frequently have close contact with foreign women who vacation in Dubrovnik. These seducer-cops need not at be violent people. But the case of these three women and the tragic outcome of the disappearance of Australian national Britt Lapthorne is cause for suspicion that these police officers may have taken part in the described incidents with foreign women. These same sources say that these alleged attempted kidnappings have nothing to do with trade in white slavery, which was alleged to be the case, but only in an attempt to talk the foreign women into wild nighttime parties that included casual sex.

Sources close to the Dubrovnik police force have told Nacional that there have long been suspicions that drug deals and prostitution has been going on at one Dubrovnik café under police protection. There are suspicions that the real owners of the café, some 50 metres from the municipal court building, and 150 metres from the police building, are in fact three inspectors at the narcotics unit at the Dubrovnik police force. The name of Dragan Palameta is not cited among these. Considering these facts it is no wonder THE BODY OF BRITT LAPTHORNE was found by a fisher on 6 October 2008 below Boninovathat some Dubrovnik natives see their town as a place where organised crime is thriving. Those aware of the goings-on at the Dubrovnik police force suspect that the dismissed Kresic consciously underestimated the problem, and may have tacitly tolerated some suspicious activities some Dubrovnik cops took part in.

The Police General Directorate has begun to deal with the suspicions concerning the connections between prominent Dubrovnik police officers and organised crime. And it looks like the first decisive personnel measures were undertaken on Monday, after which there could be a broader investigation into the Cvik case, the explosion of a car bomb and a break-in into the home of Dubrovnik Mayor Dubravka Suica. Police General Director Vladimir Faber and Interior Affairs Minister Tomislav Karamarko have decided to purge the Dubrovnik police force. It is possible that they carried out the purge because it is clear to them that Kresic's people were not changing their habits.