to October 1944 but denied that anyone had been killed during this period. He said: "When I was there no guard or administrator was allowed to so much as touch a prisoner. I'm not speaking about what it was like before or afterward, but when I was there no one could touch anyone". Šakić claimed all the deaths that occurred during his command came as a result of natural causes. The interview caused a public uproar, with Argentine president Carlos Menem calling for Šakić's arrest a day after the broadcast. Šakić disappeared soon afterwards. His wife claimed that he had left to seek refuge in the Croatian Embassy in Buenos Aires, which the embassy denied. She stated that her husband had not committed acts of genocide in Jasenovac, saying: "It's such a huge lie. I am distraught. After fifty years, they come up with an atrocious thing like this". Dinko Šakić was arrested on 1 May. Trial and imprisonment Šakić was one of the most important figures from World War II who was still alive at the time of his trial. He was the last known living commander of a World War II concentration camp. Šakić defended himself by claiming that Jasenovac was a Serb-Communist myth which was "created to destroy Croats". He showed no remorse and stated that Jasenovac was not an extermination camp but a work camp designed to hold the enemies of the NDH, whom he claimed were treated in a kind and benevolent manner. He claimed that no killings had occurred during his command. He maintained that the camp was organized to hold those complicit in the "Serbian genocidal policies" that he claimed were implemented against the Croats from 1919 until 1941. Šakić stated that his conscience was clear before God and that he would do what he had done in Jasenovac again if the "biological existence" of Croats were threatened once more. He acknowledged that Jews and Romanis were detained because of their ethnicity but claimed Serbs and others were held as enemies of the state who wanted to destroy Croatia. I am proud of what I did and would do it again. Jasenovac was a legal institution based on law, where all those proved to have worked for the destruction of the Croatian state, and who had been dangerous for public order and safety, were interned. Considering the duration and population of the camp,