The case of Croatia’s former Prime Minister is being considered by the Supreme Court.
The biggest corruption scandal in Croatian politics – the Fimi Media case – in which former prime minister Ivo Sanader and his former party HDZ have been found guilty for taking money out of state institutions and companies, is being considered by the Supreme Court, reports Index.hr on September 28, 2015.
The public hearing and debate about appeals to the verdict have been scheduled for three days from 28 to 30 September, and the final decision will be made later. However, even though the final written decision may take months, immediately after the hearings it will be known whether the verdict has been revoked or not. If the verdict is revoked, former prime minister Sanader should be immediately released from the Remetinec prison. But, even if that happens, it will not be immediately known which part of the verdict has been revoked.
Sanader has been sentenced to nine years in prison due to the Fimi Media case, and if the verdict is confirmed, he will also have to repay 15.27 million kuna which he acquired illegally. HDZ has been fined with five million kuna and the forfeiture of property worth 24.2 million kuna. However, after the hearings were announced, the media began to speculate that the Supreme Court will revoke the verdicts. Some believe that HDZ could be acquitted because its crime no longer exists in the Criminal Code.
Zagreb County Court Judge Ivana Čalić announced the verdict in March of last year, pointing out that the consequences of Sanader’s corruption will long be felt in the public companies which have been for years treated “as politicians’ ATMs”. The judge said that system was created which favoured the defendants. She pointed out that HDZ, as a party in power, under Sanader’s leadership undermined citizens’ confidence in the system of government and that political corruption was seen as a rule, and not an exception.
The Council of the Supreme Court is chaired by Judge Senka Klarić Baranović, with Ileana Vinja as a member and Marijan Svedrović as a reporting judge. The hearing began around 9.15 am with the reading of the highlights from earlier verdict.
In addition to Sanader and HDZ, Sanader’s former spokesperson Ratko Maček and former party treasurer Mladen Barišić were also found guilty. Former HDZ assistant treasurer Branka Pavošević was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, and the owner of the Fimi Media company, Nevenka Jurak, to two years imprisonment.
