Todorić is still at large.
All 12 suspects in the Agrokor affair, who were arrested on Monday and brought before the investigative judge of Zagreb County Court on Wednesday, were released from remand prison. That was the decision of the County Court, which concluded that both of Todorić’s sons, Ante and Ivan, will also be able to stay outside of prison. Remand prison has been ordered solely for their father and former Agrokor boss Ivica Todorić, who remains at large and for whom an arrest warrant will probably be issued, reports Novi List on October 19, 2017.
The decision was made late on Wednesday evening after an eight-hour hearing at the Court. With the decision, the County Court struck a powerful blow to the State Attorney’s Office in Zagreb, which lost the first legal battle in the long process. The court only had bad news for Ivica Todorić, who is still not in prison since he has not made himself available to the Croatian judicial and police authorities.
As expected, defence lawyers welcomed the decision, saying it was the only possible move because, in their opinion, which is apparently shared by the trial judge, the prosecution did not prove that the suspects had to be in custody while the investigation is proceeding.
It is interesting that no precautionary measures have been ordered, so all 14 suspects (the 12 who were detained for the last two days and two of Todorić’s sons who are at large) can freely talk with witnesses during the investigation. According to files, there are around 60 such witnesses.
However, the decision is still not final, as the State Attorney’s Office has the right to appeal. Nevertheless, the appeal does not delay the implementation of this decision, so all suspects who are currently available to the Croatian judiciary were released from Remetinec prison in Zagreb late last night.
The biggest winners in this decision are probably Ivan and Ante Todorić, who did not spend even these last couple of days behind bars. Of course, it is still possible that the second instance decision on detention will be different, although that would be a surprise because the court rarely chances its initial ruling.
It is still not clear where Ante Todorić and his sons are and whether or not they plan to return to Croatia, but it is assumed that they are currently in the United Kingdom. It seems that Ivica Todorić does not intend to return to Croatia for the time being, so the British courts might have to be the ones to formally decide on his extradition to Zagreb. This is also implicated by his alleged decision to hire lawyer Michael O’Kane, who specialises in extradition issues from the UK.
Translated from Novi List.
