Ivica Todorić’s attorney, Jadranka Sloković, clarified a few things for N1 on the 21st of November, 2018, with regard to what can be expected next in Ivica Todorić’s case, as well as on his planned political engagement, which he himself recently announced, much to the surprise of most.
Ivica Todorić is on parole, who can carry out precautionary measures?
“He’ll carry them out himself, because he has to obey them – he has to be at his place of residence, in Zagreb.”
Todorić apparently has the right to free movement in Zagreb, but he mustn’t leave the city without the explicit permission of the judge, and he’s also had to hand over his passport.
”They will check all of that. He’s too much of a well-known person to be able to just go anywhere,” explained Sloković.
How is the investigation going, when can we expect the indictment?
“So far, between 60 and 70 witnesses have been questioned,” stated the lawyer, which means that there are ”more witnesses than were initially scheduled for the investigation.” Witness examination is, therefore, at an end. Problems could arise however, due to the situation being to do with a foreign company.
“We really think that this will be a problem, from knowledge of the language to knowledge of the regulations, which must be applied to certain situations,” explained Sloković. She added that the result of the assessment is not expected to be arrived to particularly quickly, either.
“It’s been announced, and a decision may have been reached now, to extend the investigation for another six months, which means that the investigation will last for at least eighteen months, after which a decision will be made as to whether an indictment will be filed or not, and the indictment may be brought by the prosecutor one month after the investigation has been completed, meaning that that period can be extended for another three months, so there’s still a long way to go to the indictment.”
“As for the witnesses who’ve been questioned up to now – given the fact that this is a non-public investigation, I can’t go into [can’t discuss] the testimonies, but our stance is that the testimonies don’t burden Ivica Todorić in any way whatsoever.”
Was custody after extradition necessary, what do you have to say about the bail fee?
“Our position was that no detention was necessary and that everything could be solved with the precautionary measures that are applicable in this case, however, the court’s view was that prison was needed, and that could be replaced by bail and precautionary measures. Essentially it was the same decision as that of the court in London,” explained Sloković, adding that a lower bail amount and different precautionary measures were involved.
Ivica Todorić announced his political engagement, yet before him lies a lengthy court process?
“We still don’t know in what way this process will be completed. No matter how optimistically it started, the question is what will be proven during the investigation – it’s not certain that an indictment will be filed.”
As for his announced political engagement, Sloković stated that such a move is entirely Todorić’s decision.
“In one thing he’s right – despite Agrokor’s difficult destiny, he created respectable firms, there’s no burned ground left behind him. He definitely has certain qualities and what he decides to do now is his choice,” concluded Jadranka Sloković.
Keep up with all things related to Ivica Todorić here.
Click here for the original interview by N1 Hrvatska
