Shooting of Nikola Štedul

Who is Shooting of Nikola Štedul?

The shooting of Nikola Štedul was an attempted assassination in Kirkcaldy, Scotland in 1988.

The victim, Nikola Štedul, is a Croatian emigrant. Štedul had been the president the Croatian Statehood Movement, campaigning for Croatian independence from Yugoslavia.

The assassin Vinko Sindičić arrived in Britain with a Swiss passport. He received the gun and silencer he used for the murder attempt from the Yugoslav embassy. Early on the morning of October 20, 1988, Štedul, who was walking his dog, was shot at four times by Sindičić. Štedul survived the shooting, while Sindičić was arrested at Heathrow Airport. The Yugoslav embassy subsequently provided the alibi that Sindičić was in the country watching the Scotland-Yugoslavia football match on October 19. However, residue from the firearm was found on Sindičić's skin, and after an eleven day trial he was found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to 15 years in jail.

The assassination attempt was subject of a 1994 movie by Scottish Television titled The Yugoslav Hitman.