ZAGREB, April 23, 2018 – London’s Westminster Magistrates Court has given a green-light to the handover of Agrokor founder Ivica Todorić to Croatia, a judge of that court stated on Monday.
Todorić is given seven days to appeal the ruling. Earlier, the defence has announced that in case extradition is approved they will seek an appeal.
Todorić was arrested in London on 7 November 2017 on a European arrest warrant issued by Croatia, and was released on a 100,000 pound bail the same day. The businessman had to hand over his passport and was ordered to wear an electronic tag and report to police three times a week.
Todorić and 14 other people are being investigated in Croatia for a debt crisis at Agrokor, a company employing 60,000 people in Croatia and the region which was put under government administration in April 2017.
At a hearing held on 10 April in London on Croatia’s request for Todorić’s handover, his attorney Rosemarie Davidson claimed the proceedings against her client in Croatia were politically motivated and that he would be unnecessarily long in jail because the investigation was not nearly over.
Judge Emma Arbuthnot said the claim that the proceedings were politically motivated was a very weak argument.
Croatia’s attorney Clare Montgomery said only a trial could provide the right answer as evidence showed that Todorić had committed major crimes, that he had borrowed money from Agrokor and had not paid off his debts.
