Three men arrested over murder of Croatian man in Dublin

Josip Strok (31) died after fatal assault and a friend was seriously injured in the incident in Clondalkin on March 30th

Gardaí investigating the murder of Josip Strok (31) and a serious assault on a fellow Croatian national in an incident in Clondalkin, Dublin last month have arrested three men.

The men were arrested on Thursday morning by gardaí attached to the Clondalkin district and the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

All three were being detained on Thursday at Garda stations in the Dublin Metropolitan Region under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

Gardaí are continuing to appeal to anyone who may have information on the incident to contact them at Clondalkin Garda Station on 01 666 7600 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.

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Earlier this month, more than 100 people attended a vigil on Grange View Road, close to where Mr Strok was found on March 30th after being seriously assaulted.

The carpenter, who lived in Dublin city centre, suffered serious head injuries and was on life support for several days before being pronounced dead on April 3rd.

Mr Strok’s friend David Druzinec, a fellow Croatian, was also seriously assaulted and told Jutarnji, a Croatian news site, that the two friends were told to speak English before they were attacked.

The two friends then got on a bus, with Mr Druzinec saying the bus was followed by the attackers who were in a car and once they were walking again, they were attacked unexpectedly from behind.

“They hit me first with something, I don’t know if was it a rod or a bat. I asked the police the details they saw on the video, which they supposedly have,” he said adding that he tried to get up to help his friend but was targeted again “even harder”.

The last thing he remembered was waking up in Tallaght University Hospital, he said.