Born in the village of Studenci, near the town of Imotski in what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, he became a member of the fascist Ustaše at a young age.

This marriage, as well as his fanatic support for Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić, led to Šakić's appointment as commander of Jasenovac in April 1944.

In 1945, Šakić and his wife fled the Independent State of Croatia alongside other Ustaše officials following the collapse of the NDH and Nazi Germany.

They emigrated to Argentina in 1947, where Šakić started a textile business, was an active member of the country's 10,000-strong Croat community, and became friends with Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner.

He admitted to having been in a leadership position at Jasenovac but denied that anyone had been killed there during this time, claiming that all of those who perished had died from disease.

He died of heart problems in a Zagreb hospital on 20 July 2008 and was later cremated in full Ustaše uniform, as per his wishes.

Dinko Ljubomir Šakić was born in the village of Studenci, near the town of Imotski in what was then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on 8 September 1921.

"[4] NDH authorities, led by the Ustaše militia,[5] subsequently implemented genocidal policies against the Serb, Jewish and Romani population living within the borders of the new state.

That summer, Šakić is alleged to have personally directed an exhaust pipe into a van filled with women and children at the Stara Gradiška concentration camp, killing all those inside.

[8] Šakić took part in the torture of Remzija Rebac, who, along with Milo Bošković, led a group of twenty internees who organized an uprising and stole corn.

Šakić agreed and, prior to shooting him, is reported to have said that he valued Bošković "as a man and expert and that he should feel honoured to have the camp's commander personally kill him".

[10] Šakić ordered the hanging of Marin Jurcev, manager of the infirmary in Jasenovac, who aided an Ustaše defector in smuggling information about the camp to the Yugoslav Partisans.

Šakić sat and ate red beets and fried schnitzel while watching the hanged bodies with Croatian Interior Minister Andrija Artuković.

[2] Eyewitnesses stated that he shot prisoners numerous times, often killing for sport those who were sent to work in the fields surrounding Jasenovac.

Ostensibly seeking to prevent the spread of typhoid, malaria and diphtheria, Šakić detained inmates whom he deemed to be unhealthy – ordering that they be killed inside a house that he called "the hospital".

[7] The two settled in the coastal town of Santa Teresita in Buenos Aires,[13] where Šakić ran a textile business and was an active member of the country's 10,000-strong Croat community.

[14] Šakić was a friend of Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, for whom he operated a "rest camp" for Croatian fascists in Paraguay.

The interview caused a public uproar, with Argentine president Carlos Menem calling for Šakić's arrest a day after the broadcast.

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.

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.

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.

[21]He claimed the establishment of Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav Wars were evidence of Serbs having planned and carried out a genocide against Croats.

His defence lawyers asked that he be acquitted; they claimed that the prosecution had failed to prove his guilt and stated that Šakić was merely obeying orders while serving at the camp.

He claimed that "the NDH is the foundation of the modern Croatian homeland" and eulogized Šakić by saying that "every honorable Croat should be proud of [his] name".

Simon Wiesenthal Center director Efraim Zuroff, as well as the Israeli ambassador to Croatia, both lodged complaints with Croatian president Stjepan Mesić about Šakić's funeral.