Criminal law expert comments on an investigation against Modrić for possible perjury.
An investigation against Luka Modrić was launched on Monday for allegedly giving false testimony at the trial of Croatian football boss Zdravko Mamić. Modrić could be sentenced to between six months and five years in prison, reports Index.hr on June 20, 2017.
The State Attorney’s Office claims that Modrić lied when he testified last week and changed his testimony in favour of Mamić. The main point is when Modrić and Dinamo Football Club signed an annex which allowed Modrić to take half of the fee for his transfer to Tottenham in 2008. He allegedly later shared the money with Mamić. The date on the annex is 2004, but the prosecution claims that the annex was actually signed in 2008 after Modrić had already left for Tottenham. When testifying to the investigators two years ago, Modrić admitted that the annex was signed in 2008, but has now changed his testimony.
Veljko Miljević, a lawyer and specialist in criminal law, commented on the issue. “It is hard to say whether Modrić can be sanctioned under the criminal law only on the basis of giving false testimony without material evidence. However, that is not on the agenda at the moment. That is a matter of court proceedings if it ever comes to that. As far as I know, there is no indictment at this time against Modrić, and the question is whether it will ever be filed.”
Whether Modrić is guilty or not will be known only after a detailed criminal investigation. “First, you have to take one statement, which is then read thoroughly and analysed. Then you take the second statement and repeat the same procedure. And then you identify the differences between the two statements. Then you ask additional questions to see what the witness remembers and what he does not remember. After this procedure has been completed, it is only then possible to obtain a picture of which testimony is credible and which is false. At this point, we still do not know whether there will be any attempt to bring an indictment against Modrić. They have just launched the procedure. If the indictment were to be brought and a hearing scheduled, then they would use the described methodology.”
“I do not know if Luka Modrić deliberately gave false testimony, believing he could get a suspended sentence in the worse case scenario. The issue of determining guilt has nothing to do with the sentencing phase. If the procedure is initiated, the objective features of the offence must first be established. It must be proven that someone has given false testimony. Then follows the determination of the subjective feature – whether the person has given the false statement intentionally. Only then can the accused be found guilty.”
“As far as the legal practice in Croatia with the criminal offence of perjury is concerned, this offence is prosecuted very rarely, even in some situations when it would be justified. When the procedure is launched, it usually lasts for a long time and ends up with suspended sentences.”
