ZAGREB, May 15, 2018 - The Živi Zid opposition party on Monday pressed criminal charges against Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Martina Dalić, who resigned earlier on Monday, former emergency administrator in the Agrokor conglomerate Ante Ramljak, and Finance Minister Zdravko Marić over the Agrokor mail scandal.
"Martina Dalić isn't that important anymore in this entire process but the prime minister's responsibility is important, as he has executive authority, he has executive and command responsibility, and in the entire process he must have known and the emails show that he did know," the party's secretary-general Tihomir Lukanić told reporters, referring to correspondence between Dalić and the consultants and lawyers who had worked on the law on emergency administration in systemic companies, dubbed Lex Agrokor after the ailing Agrokor conglomerate.
The criminal charges were filed for abuse of office and power, abuse of insider information, trading in influence and not reporting the preparation of a criminal act.
Lukanić believes that the government no longer has legitimacy considering the fact that the prime minister has been contaminated in the process. "Considering the level of the prime minister's responsibility, if he had any honour, he himself would resign, but we see that this won't go in that direction," he said, adding that the State Prosecutor's Office must investigate the prime minister's responsibility "which, as of today, is not just political, but criminal too."
He added that Dalić's resignation was expected following the emails leak. "By resigning, she confirmed that the entire process surrounding the writing of Lex Agrokor and almost coming to a settlement is illegal and illegitimate, and that it has been contaminated with procedures and communication that are inappropriate for a democratic state".
