ZAGREB, June 30 (Hina) – The Bridge party on Tuesday called out the State Attorney’s Office (DORH) for administering “selective justice”, saying that it does not adhere to the law but follows political instructions, which is why it is necessary to change the way state attorneys are selected.
“DORH is often in the service of politics. It is not fulfilling its purpose and it is necessary to change the way the chief state prosecutor is selected,” Bridge’s political secretary Nikola Grmoja told a press conference.
He said that there are two possible selection procedures, one being a two-thirds majority vote in the Sabor, “even though we select constitutional court judges that way which hasn’t proven to be that efficient,” he admitted.
“We all know that constitutional court judges are chosen by agreement between the HDZ and SDP which then leaves room for political bartering,” Grmoja noted.
The other way is through direct election just like the president is elected.
“We have seen that until now DORH has behaved by turning a blind eye to some, while some people are arrested ahead of an election in an effort to curry favour with this or that political group. That has to change. We need an independent judiciary and institutions,” Grmoja said.
Party colleague Tomislav Jelic said the DORH administers “selective justice”, citing the Croatia Osiguranje (CO) insurance scandal in 2013 and 2014. Experts are preparing a suit which will prove that Croatian citizens – as owners of CO – were robbed of HRK 3.5 billion (about €450 million) “when CO was given away to the Adris Group in a scandalous way.”
Even though a state audit found that the privatisation of CO was illegal, DORH has done nothing about it, Jelic said.
County attorneys have not been replaced for years and it is “high time after the election for some people in DORH to be charged for their inaction and covering up crimes,” Jelic said.
