The leader of the Split branch of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Vice Mihanovic on Thursday urged Mayor Ivica Puljak to ask his deputy, Bojan Ivosevic, to step down after the State Attorney's Office (DORH) indicted him for threatening a reporter of the Slobodna Dalmacija daily paper.

“An indictment against Deputy Mayor Ivosevic is a fairly serious matter and, given the standards Mayor Puljak announced, I expect him to request Ivosevic’s resignation,” Mihanovic told reporters.

On Wednesday, the state attorney’s office charged Ivosevic with threatening reporter Nikolina Lulic, to whom he said he would “drink her blood,” in an effort to intimidate reporters after he was disappointed with texts about him and his family published on the Slobodna Dalmacija website and newspaper.

Mihanovic claimed that the indictment for the second-ranking man in the city is a fairly hefty crime for him to be able to normally continue performing his duties.

“The solution would be for Ivosevic to step down and that the circus regarding this case ends,” Mihanovic said, criticising Puljak for remaining quiet about the DORH indictment.

After DORH indicted Ivosevic, Mayor Puljak did not answer any calls by reporters on Wednesday afternoon. It was learned later that Puljak was in a plane travelling to Brussels. His second deputy, Antonio Kuzmanic, did not answer calls or text messages either. Reporters tried to contact Ivosevic but he too did not answer the calls.