Bandić was supposed to appear at a court hearing today.
Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić did not appear on Monday at a court hearing which was supposed to again make a decision on the merits of previously dropped charges against him due to the alleged favouring of the “U Ime Obitelji” association. The new hearing is scheduled for 5 October, reports Novi List on August 29, 2016.
The law does not require defendants to attend meetings of the Prosecution Council, but the court still has to deliver official summons. According to attorney Krešimir Krsnik, the hearing was not held because summonses have not been delivered. Bandić’s lawyers Jadranka Sloković and Čedo Prodanović said that the hearing was postponed because one of Bandić’s co-defendants had not received the summons.
The first indictment against Bandić for the so-called “stands affairs” was rejected by the court last July, concluding that the actions taken by the Zagreb Mayor were not criminal. However, the Supreme Court in May accepted the appeal of the Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK) and concluded that the County Court had violated the provisions of criminal procedure, “because the decision contradicted the explanation given”.
USKOK has accused Bandić, his associate Ivica Lovrić and director of the Zagreb Markets municipal company Zdenka Palac for favouring “U Ime Obitelji” association with illegal benefits worth at least 308,000 kuna, by allowing them to use city-owned stalls during their drive to collect signatures for a referendum. “U Ime Obitelji” (On Behalf of Family) is a conservative association which has successfully collected voters’ signatures for a referendum against gay marriage. The referendum took place in December 2013 and their proposal was supported by about two thirds majority.
Prior to the rescheduled hearing, early parliamentary elections will take place on 11 September where Bandić is the prime ministerial candidate of his political coalition. The chances of him actually becoming the prime minister are slight, but he hopes to win enough seats in Parliament to be one of deciding factors in forming the next ruling coalition. There are several court proceedings taking place against Bandić connected with his mayoral activities. He has been the Mayor of Zagreb since 2000, with a short break when he was officially the Deputy Mayor after he resigned due to a drunken driving incident. He was a member of SDP until 2009, when he was ejected from the party because he announced his candidacy for President against the decision of the party. He lost the presidential elections in 2010 to SDP’s official candidate Ivo Josipović.
