ZAGREB, 11 June 2021- The open hearing in the Fimi Media corruption case before the Supreme Court ended on Friday with the defence and prosecution presenting their appeals against a non-final ruling handed down by Zagreb County Court, and the Supreme Court ruling is expected within the next month.
The defence attorneys representing Ivo Sanader, a former prime minister and one time leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), Jadranka Sloković and Čedo Prodanović, reiterated that in delivering its ruling Zagreb County Court did not take account of the Supreme Court's opinion from 2015 when the highest court in the country quashed the non-final verdict handed down in 2013, stating that Sanader was denied his right to cross-examination as his co-defendants refused to answer his questions.
In November 2020, Sanader was found guilty pending appeal and sentenced to eight years in prison for siphoning money from state-owned companies and institutions. Also convicted in a retrial before Zagreb County Court were former HDZ treasurer Mladen Barisic and accountant Branka Pavosevic while the party, in whose slush fund some of the siphoned money had allegedly ended up, was found "responsible."
Sanader waiting in jail for several cases to be resolved
One month after the non-final ruling in the Fimi Media case ,the Constitutional Court rejected a complaint by Sanader in the Planinska Street case, in which he has been convicted and is currently serving a six-year prison term. With that ruling by the highest court in the country, Sanader has exhausted all legal means to appeal against decisions before the national courts.
Sanader was convicted of taking a commission of HRK 17.5 million after the state bought a building in Planinska Street in Zagreb that was owned by former HDZ parliamentarian Stjepan Fiolić. Zagreb County Court delivered the conviction in 2017 and the Supreme Court upheld the ruling in April 2019.
In the meantime Sanader is waiting for a decision by the Supreme Court after he was sentenced to six years imprisonment for taking a bribe from the Hungarian energy group MOL. If the sentence is upheld, Sanader will have to pay back €5 million into the state budget.
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