ZAGREB, May 30, 2020 – Josipa Rimac, the Public Administration Ministry State Secretary who was fired on Friday, presented her defense to anti-corruption investigators but she did not answer any questions, and after spending the night in detention she could be taken to the investigating judge on Saturday, her lawyer said.
Lawyer Zeljko Gulisija told the HTV public broadcaster on Friday that his client could be taken to the investigating judge on Saturday if the anti-corruption office USKOK asked that she be remanded in custody.
Gulisija said that his client was “shocked by today’s events” after earlier in the day she was arrested with 12 other persons, including the CEO of the state-owned Hrvatske Sume forest management company, Krunoslav Jakupcic, the HDZ mayor of Gracac, Natasa Turbic, and Assistant Economy Minister Ana Mandac, whom the government also dismissed on Friday.
Sources close to the investigation say that Rimac is suspected of influence peddling and receiving a bribe of €45,000 to favour the C.E.M.P. company, which built a wind park near Knin.
She is also suspected of exerting pressure on Hrvatske Sume to make it change its decision not to green-light the Krs-Padjane wind park, built by C.E.M.P.
USKOK believes that Hrvatske Sume CEO Krunoslav Jakupcic and Ivan Melvan of the company’s branch in Split were the ones who eventually approved the wind park project in early 2020.
Jakupcic’s attorney Vladimir Teresak said that his client had presented extensive defense and that he was charged with acting in line with Rimac’s instructions.
He said that Teresak pleaded not guilty to the charges.
C.E.M.P. on Friday issued a statement dismissing allegations of illegal conduct in the project, claiming it could prove the lawfulness of its actions with existing documentation on the project.
