Former minister Zvonimir Separovic died in Zagreb on Sunday at the age of 94, the president of the Croatian Society of Victimology, Ante Beljo, confirmed on Monday.

Separovic earned a doctoral degree from the School of Law in Ljubljana in 1966. He taught Criminal Law and Criminology at the School of Law in Zagreb from 1961 to 1998 and served as Dean from 1985 to 1987. He also served as Rector of the University of Zagreb from 1989 to 1991 and was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus in 1998. He taught in postgraduate programs at the School of Law, the School of Medicine and the School of Dental Medicine in Zagreb, as well as at Mito University in Japan and the Catholic University of El Salvador.

Separovic served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1991-1992 and Minister of Justice in 1999-2000. In the latter capacity he filed a genocide lawsuit against Serbia with the International Court of Justice. In 1992, he became Croatia’s first Ambassador to the United Nations.

Separovic was the co-founder of the World Society of Victimology and served as its president from 1985 to 1989. He was also the founder and first president of the Croatian Society of Victimology (since 1990). He was a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts since 1994, and published works on criminal law, criminology, medical law, bioethics and victimology.

Separovic joined the Hrast (Croatian Growth) movement in 2010, but abandoned it soon and returned to the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.