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Copyright 1979 Associated Press

All Rights Reserved

The Associated Press

These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press

June 22, 1979, Friday, PM cycle

SECTION: Domestic News

LENGTH: 851 words

DATELINE: CHICAGO

BODY:
A Serbian nationalist who hijacked a jetliner with 135 persons aboard was returned to the
United States today on the same Boeing 707 that took him to Ireland and then was flown
here to face sentencing for a 1975 bombing.

A handcuffed Nikola Kavaja was led off a chartered executive jet at O'Hare Airport by about
a dozen U.S. marshals and driven away in a four-car caravan.

Earlier, Kavaja had landed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey on a flight from
Shannon, Ireland, where he had arrived on Thursday and was ordered deported early today.

Kavaja was not allowed to talk to reporters as he was taken to be arraigned in New Jersey
on an arrest warrant issued because he failed to appear for sentencing Thursday for the
1975 bombing of the home of Yugoslavia's consul in Chicago. His hijacking odyssey began
Wednesday when he commandeered a jetliner on a flight from New York to Chicago, where
he was to have been sentenced.

U.S. Magistrate Stephen M. Orlofsky ordered Kavaja returned to Chicago and he was
whisked aboard the jet chartered by the federal government for the flight to Illinois.

Five Irish policemen guarded Kavaja and his American lawyer, Deyan Brashich, on today's
flight to the United States. The jet was flown by the same volunteer crew that took it to
Ireland on Thursday.

One of the Irish guards, Deputy Superintendent Pat Docey, said Kavaja was "very calm and
relaxed. He might have dozed for a short time."

At his arraignment, Kavaja was asked if he understood his right to remain silent. Brashich,
who translated for Kavaja, quoted his client as responding: "I know that and I will make no
comments or any statements or answers to any questions."

When asked if he was tired, Kavaja said: "I have not slept for four days. What kind of
country is this? America is not a communist country."

He asked that the hearing be rescheduled until Saturday morning, but Orlofsky rejected the
request.

The Irish government announced early today that it was sending Kavaja and his lawyer

http://www.nexis.com/research/search/documentDisplay?_docnum=2&_ansset=B-WA-A-... 4/22/2004
Browse Display Page 1 of 2

Copyright 1980 Associated Press

All Rights Reserved

The Associated Press

These materials may not be republished without the express written consent of The
Associated Press

September 11, 1980, Thursday, PM cycle

SECTION: Domestic News

LENGTH: 424 words

HEADLINE: Possible Serbian Death Plot Brings Police Guard to Alderman's Home

DATELINE: CHICAGO

BODY:
Police were guarding the home of a Chicago alderman of Croatian descent today because of
a possible plot to assassinate him and seize the Yugoslav consulate here.

Denise Vrdolyak, wife of Alderman Edward R. Vrdolyak, confirmed Wednesday that police
had been stationed outside the couple's Southwest Side home.

The alleged plot stems from a 1979 hijacking of a U.S. airliner and from century-old
rivalries among Croatians, Serbians and other Eastern Europeans whose families once lived
in what is now Communist Yugoslavia, authorities said.

The Illinois Department of Law Enforcement had learned through an informant of an alleged
plot by anti-Communist Serbian terrorists, a department spokesman said.

The spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said his agency hadn't corroborated the
alleged plot but had informed city and federal officials.

Reports in today's Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times said authorities believed
Vrdolyak was a targeted because his brother, a former police captain who speaks Croatian,
tried to negotiate with a skyjacker who commandeered an American Airlines jet on June 20,
1979.

Nikola Kavaja, 4, is serving a 40-year prison term for the hijacking of the Chicago-bound jet
with 137 persons aboard and diverting it to Shannon, Ireland. Kavaja had demanded the
release of the Rev. Stojilko Kajevic, a priest loosely affiliated with the Serbian Eastern
Orthodox Church. Kajevic had been jailed in Chicago as the leader of a terrorist bombing
group.

The informant told authorities the plot called for Vrdolyak's assassination at a picnic Monday
while four terrorists armed with .45-caliber machine guns and plastic explosives raided the
Yugoslav consulate downtown.

Vrdolyak aides said Wednesday that no picnic was on his schedule for that day.

The informant said terrorists planned to take hostages at the consulate and demand
Qavaja's release from the city's Metropolitan Correctional Center, and also possibly for

http://www.nexis.com/research/search/documentDisplay?_docnum=12&_ansset=B-WA-A... 4/22/2004