Julienne Busic
Encyclopedia
Julienne Bušić is an American terrorist and the wife of Zvonko Bušić
. She was arrested in 1976 after hijacking TWA Flight 355
and sentenced to life in prison, with early parole.
She married Zvonko Bušić in 1972 and they lived together in Austria, Germany, Oregon, and Ohio before moving to New York City. They were active in publicizing human rights abuses in the former Yugoslavia, especially the murder of Croatian dissidents by the Yugoslav secret police organization UDBA
in the so-called "black program," and in promoting the cause of Croatian independence. Julienne Bušić and a friend were imprisoned briefly in Zagreb in the early 1970s for disseminating literature critical of the Yugoslavian government.
On September 10, 1976, she, her husband, and three others hijacked domestic Trans World Airlines
flight 355
departing from New York for Chicago, using the threat of a bomb, which later turned out to be a harmless pressure cooker. They flew the airliner over London, where they dropped pamphlets promoting Croatian independence from Yugoslavia. The group surrendered without bloodshed, but an American policeman was killed and three others injured while detonating explosives left behind in a storage locker at Grand Central Terminal
.
Zvonko and Julienne Bušić were convicted of air piracy resulting in death, which carried a mandatory life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 years. In 1979, she was attacked in prison by Manson Family member Lynette Fromme
. She was released from federal prison in 1989 after serving 13 years in the minimum security Federal Correctional Institution at Pleasanton, California.
She subsequently moved to Croatia and has supported Croatian humanitarian causes in the U.S. and Europe. She has been involved in publishing, translation, and literary projects, and written for literary journals both in Croatia and the United States, including Ooligan Press, Verbatim, Gobshite Quarterly, and Vijenac. She is also a weekly columnist for the Croatian news portal Dalje.
Zvonko Bušić
Zvonko Bušić is a Croatian emigrant known for hijacking TWA Flight 355 in September 1976. He was subsequently convicted of air piracy, spending 32 years in prison before being released on parole in July 2008.-Background:...
. She was arrested in 1976 after hijacking TWA Flight 355
TWA Flight 355
TWA Flight 355 was a domestic Trans World Airlines flight which was hijacked by five terrorists, all members of the Croatian National Resistance which was a terrorist Croatian Ustaše emigrant organization, on September 10, 1976....
and sentenced to life in prison, with early parole.
Biography
According to her memoir, she was born in Eugene, Oregon, USA and was raised in Portland, Oregon. She graduated from the University of Oregon, attended Vienna (Austria) University, and obtained a master's degree in German language, literature, and linguistics at Portland State University. In Oregon, she worked as a nurse's aid, teacher, and mental health therapist for abused teenagers.She married Zvonko Bušić in 1972 and they lived together in Austria, Germany, Oregon, and Ohio before moving to New York City. They were active in publicizing human rights abuses in the former Yugoslavia, especially the murder of Croatian dissidents by the Yugoslav secret police organization UDBA
UDBA
The Department of State Security was the secret police organization of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Although it operated with more restraint than other secret...
in the so-called "black program," and in promoting the cause of Croatian independence. Julienne Bušić and a friend were imprisoned briefly in Zagreb in the early 1970s for disseminating literature critical of the Yugoslavian government.
On September 10, 1976, she, her husband, and three others hijacked domestic Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
flight 355
TWA Flight 355
TWA Flight 355 was a domestic Trans World Airlines flight which was hijacked by five terrorists, all members of the Croatian National Resistance which was a terrorist Croatian Ustaše emigrant organization, on September 10, 1976....
departing from New York for Chicago, using the threat of a bomb, which later turned out to be a harmless pressure cooker. They flew the airliner over London, where they dropped pamphlets promoting Croatian independence from Yugoslavia. The group surrendered without bloodshed, but an American policeman was killed and three others injured while detonating explosives left behind in a storage locker at Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal —often incorrectly called Grand Central Station, or shortened to simply Grand Central—is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States...
.
Zvonko and Julienne Bušić were convicted of air piracy resulting in death, which carried a mandatory life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 years. In 1979, she was attacked in prison by Manson Family member Lynette Fromme
Lynette Fromme
Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme is an American member of the Manson Family. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1975...
. She was released from federal prison in 1989 after serving 13 years in the minimum security Federal Correctional Institution at Pleasanton, California.
She subsequently moved to Croatia and has supported Croatian humanitarian causes in the U.S. and Europe. She has been involved in publishing, translation, and literary projects, and written for literary journals both in Croatia and the United States, including Ooligan Press, Verbatim, Gobshite Quarterly, and Vijenac. She is also a weekly columnist for the Croatian news portal Dalje.