ZAGREB, January 28, 2019 – A Zagreb court has dropped perjury charges against Croatian national football team player Dejan Lovren, Hina was told on Monday. Lovren, who currently plays with Liverpool FC, was charged with giving false testimony at the trial of the former boss of Dinamo Zagreb, Zdravko Mamić, and another three defendants.
The indictment was issued by the Osijek County Prosecutor’s Office on 19 September 2018 and was dismissed on 25 January.
The ruling may be appealed within three days of its receipt.
According to unofficial information, the indictment was dropped for the same reasons as in the perjury case of another member of the national football team, Luka Modrić. In his case the same court found that there was no probable cause to try him.
Prosecutors argued that on 1 September 2017, at a hearing in the trial of Zdravko Mamić and others, Lovren consciously lied under oath regarding his transfer from Dinamo Zagreb.
According to court records, an annex was signed to a contract entitling Lovren to 50 percent of the compensation of his transfer from Dinamo Zagreb to French side Lyon in 2010. The rest was set aside for Dinamo.
As part of his testimony, Lovren claimed the annex was inserted before his transfer to Lyon, but prosecutors alleged that the annex was signed after the defender’s move and then backdated.
More news on the Zdravko Mamić case can be found in the Sports section.
