Court Approves Modrić’s Request to Move Trial from Osijek to Zagreb

The World Cup’s best player will be tried for giving false testimony in Zagreb. 

The Supreme Court has accepted the request of Luka Modrić’s defense team that his trial is moved from Osijek to Zagreb, the Supreme Court confirmed to Index.hr on July 18, 2018. 

The best footballer of the World Cup, who will be tried for giving false testimony in the process against Zdravko Mamić, will thus be heard at the Zagreb County Court instead of Osijek.

Luka Modrić has been accused of giving false testimony in his statement about his transfer from Dinamo Zagreb to Tottenham, or namely when the 50:50 transfer fee between him and Dinamo was allegedly agreed.

Modrić first said during the investigation that this division of money was agreed upon after joining Tottenham, though, during his testimony at the main trial, he claimed he did not remember the details, but that it had happened before.

According to Index.hr, the Supreme Court decision states that “the motion of defendant L. M. for the transfer of the local jurisdiction is accepted and the criminal proceedings against him for the criminal offense referred to in Art. 305, para. 1 of the Criminal Code, on the basis of the indictment of the County State Attorney’s Office in Osijek on March 2, 2018, is determined by the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb.”

Modrić’s attorneys have requested that the trial is moved with the explanation that Zagreb Airport is better connected to Spain, where Modrić has a permanent residence. They also indicated that the two proposed witnesses also live in Zagreb, as well as the permanent court expert for manuscripts, arguing that they too lived in Zagreb. They also wrote in the request that they intend to propose witnesses who reside in Zagreb, which is why “there are reasons to justify the transfer of the local jurisdiction.”

The Court found that the circumstances “justify the conclusion that this criminal procedure will obviously be easier and less costly if brought before the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb than before the Municipal Court in Osijek”.

In June, Mamić was sentenced to six years in prison for siphoning 116 kuna from Dinamo Zagreb and defrauding the state budget of 12.2 million in unpaid taxes and surtaxes, and in March, an indictment was filed against Modrić for giving false testimony. It was considered that his testimony had changed in Mamić’s favor.

Mamić was tried in Osijek because he is acquainted with three influential judges of the Zagreb County Court.

 

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