However, Franjo Lucić will remain a Member of Parliament.
HDZ’s Member of Parliament Franjo Lucić has resigned from all political position in HDZ. He was president of the HDZ County Committee in Požega-Slavonia County, a member of the HDZ National Council and the HDZ Main Committee, reports Večernji List on 28 July 2017.
Lucić informed party president and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković about his decision.
“Regardless of the fact that the allegations have no foundation in truth, I have decided that I do not want to be a burden for my party. I claim once again that I have not offered any bribe as Mr Hedl argues. If necessary, I am ready to prove it to the relevant authorities,” said Lucić.
Telegram reported on Thursday that HDZ’s Member of Parliament Franjo Lucić offered a bribe to its journalist Drago Hedl, asking him in return not to write about his business activities and the bankruptcy of the companies he owns. According to media reports, on Wednesday, 26 July, Lucić made his offer during a phone conversation, parts of which have been recorded and published. He told the journalist that he would pay him three times his fee if he would not write the article.
Earlier in the day, Lucić denied allegations of attempted bribery. “I did not try to bribe Hedl. This is my private dispute which is eight years old, and he is trying to further his reputation in this way.”
However, Lucić later announced that he had resigned from his party posts.
Opposition parties have strongly criticised Lucić and warned about HDZ’s long history of questionable and what they call criminal behaviour. “A leopard cannot change its spots,” said Miroslav Šimić, the chairman of the MOST Parliamentary Group and a member of the party Presidency, reacting to the allegations. He stressed that such behaviour should be condemned by everybody and that it will be interesting to see how the Croatian judiciary system would respond. Many pointed out that the latest events reminded them of the case of former Mayor of Vukovar Željko Sabo, who was sentenced to one and a half years in prison for offering a bribe after he was similarly secretly recorded.
Lucić has denied all allegations and claims that his words have been taken out of their context.
According to latest reports, representatives of the State Prosecutor’s Office will talk with Held and then decide whether an official investigation should be launched. Since Lucić has remained as a Member of Parliament, that would require the Parliament to lift his immunity.
Translated from Večernji List.
