Half of 'Croatian Six' may be innocent of alleged terror plot, inquiry finds

A judicial inquiry into the convictions of the so called "Croatian Six" over an alleged terrorist plot in Sydney has found three of the men may be innocent, 45 years after they were jailed.

The "Croatian Six" were accused of a conspiracy to bomb several Sydney buildings in 1979, including a Balkan travel agency and a Newtown theatre, and accused of targeting the local Yugoslavian community during Croatia's struggle for independence.

After one of the country's longest running trials, Maksimilian Bebic, Mile Nekic, Vjekoslav Brajkovic, Anton Zvirotic, Ilija Kokotovic and Joseph Kokotovic were jailed in 1981 for 15 years.

A NSW judicial probe into the convictions was launched in 2022, decades after media investigations aired suggestions that evidence against the men was planted or fabricated.

A 584-page report handed down on Monday has found the initial investigation into the men was riddled with "procedural irregularities and police misconduct", and the convictions of three men was a "longstanding injustice".

"The inquiry concluded there is reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Joseph Kokotovic, Ilija Kokotovic and Mile Nekic," Acting Justice Robert Allan Hulme stated in the report.

"But there is no reasonable doubt as to the guilt of Maksimilian Bebic, Vjekoslav Brajkovic and Anton Zvirotic."

The matter will be referred to the Criminal Court of Appeal for consideration of whether the three convictions in doubt should be quashed.

ABC's Four Corners raises concerns

All six of the Croatian men have maintained their innocence and claim they were set up by the Yugoslavian secret police.

A 1991 Four Corners episode interviewed several of the accused men after they had been freed from jail, and aired allegations that some of the bomb making materials had been planted by NSW Police.

The 1979 raid on the men's homes was led by the late and now-disgraced NSW Police detective Roger Rogerson, who later told Four Corners that police had a practice of planting guns, explosives or drugs on "people who were overstepping the mark", "causing problems" or "getting out of line".

Allegations of fabrication were also canvassed in the trial.

The judicial review also raised concerns about the veracity of the main Crown witness, Yugoslav "patriot" Vico Virkez, who had pretended to be Croatian to befriend some of the six.

In February 1979 he contacted police in Lithgow, in the Central Tablelands, with a tip-off about the supposed planned terrorist attacks, naming Bebic, Brajkovic and Zvirotic, but not the Kokotovic brothers or Mr Nekic.

The report found police and prosecutors knew at the time of the trial that Mr Virkez was connected to the Yugoslav consulate, but withheld that information.

The three men recommended for exoneration were living together in Burwood in Sydney's inner west, and while they had attended Croatian independence protests they denied knowing the other three men and any involvement in the bomb plot.

A fight for justice

The Croation Six were all released on parole before their 15-year sentence was up, with most serving seven or eight years behind bars.

In 1982 the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed appeals against conviction and refused applications for leave to appeal against the sentence.

Then in 1986 the High Court also refused leave to appeal.

Forty years after their arrest, in 2021, three of the men made an application for judicial appeal to the Supreme Court of NSW, which led to these recommendations.

The report noted that Ilija Kokotovic and Joseph Kokotovic played no part in seeking the present Inquiry, nor responded to invitations to take part in the hearings, and that Mile Nekic was now deceased.