With his extradition now confirmed and looming, the former Agrokor boss still isn’t giving up. The latest from Ivica Todorić.
Judge Ouseley largely rejected Ivica Todorić’s defense arguments, but at the end of the hearing he did stress that the court in Croatia had to confirm reasonable suspicion before issuing the warrant.
As was reported across the media, the United Kingdom dismissed Todorić’s appeal and decided to finally extradite the former majority owner of Agrokor to Croatia.
”The lower court judge didn’t make a mistake because of her decision to extradite Todorić while the investigation is still ongoing,” stated Judge Ouseley, concluding that there are no materials which would see the appeal process approved. He refused to accept the arguments put forward by Todorić’s defense.
Following today’s events in the British capital, the formerly provisional decision has now become enforceable and Ivica Todoric’s extradition to Croatia will now finally follow.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 25th of October, 2018, the decision of the London court was also commented by Ivica Todorić himself.
“Listen, this was a business move for me, I decided to come to London, I stayed for a year, as far as my work in London is concerned, I completed all the tasks that I’d put in front of myself to complete, and I’m staying here for another 25 days, of course I’m disappointed, but at the end of the day I’ve got to keep going in this fight. This won’t stop me, I’ll go even further,” Todorić confidently claimed after leaving the court, N1 reports.
Todorić’s lawyer, Hines, said that in the last six months, the Croatian investigation hasn’t advanced and that there is no knowledge of whether or not there will be a trial. The British prosecutor’s office stated that this is an old argument and that the Croatian investigation is indeed likely to be completed soon. More than fifty pages of new evidence that came to light after the issuance of the warrant stand as evidence that the State Attorney’s Office is continuing to investigate the case and therefore can’t state whether or not a trial will take place.
As previously stated, Judge Ouseley largely rejected Todorić’s defense arguments, but at the end of the hearing he did stress that the court in Croatia had to confirm reasonable suspicion before issuing a warrant.
Todorić’s attorney also referred back the rules of the European Arrest Warrant, trying to convince the judge that it should be approved only when a trial in Croatia has actually been confirmed, but the judge disagreed with that interpretation.
For the latest on the former Agrokor supremo, follow this dedicated TCN section.
