October 27, 2022 - After the arrests of several former ministers made a big, but short splash on the Croatian political scene, now USKOK has published the details of the indictments against them.

The four former ministers from the Plenković government in the focus of the investigation are Darko Horvat, Boris Milošević, Tomislav Tolušić and Josip Aladrović. There are also four other suspects in two branches of the investigation, launched due to alleged illegalities with the awarding of funding.

Without specifying the identities of the defendants, USKOK reported that, in addition to the four ministers, it had filed indictments against Horvat's assistant Ana Mandac, former State Secretary of the Ministry of Regional Development Velimir Žunac, Director of the Administration for Assisted Areas Katica Mišković and Županja Mayor Damir Juzbašić.

The prosecutor's office announced that eight defendants are charged with misuse of position and authority, inciting and assisting in the misuse of position and authority, trading in influence, and assisting in trading in influence. Uskok specifies that Horvat is accused of putting his assistant Ana Mandac in charge of implementing the Program "Development of small and medium-sized enterprises and crafts in areas inhabited by members of national minorities". 2.65 million kuna in grants was awarded to "business entities" in which he was personally interested or at the instigation of Tolušić, Žunac, Mišković and Milošević. At the same time, USKOK adds, Mandac, according to Horvat's orders and the requests of Tolušić, Žunac, Mišković and Milošević and third unidentified persons, made a spreadsheet with the amounts of grants and economic entities to which these funds are allocated and then instructed the expert services to ensure the signing of the payment contract incentive.

USKOK's indictment also states that Horvat has used the authority of a minister and previously a member of parliament, through Ana Mandac, from January 2018 to April 2019, and asked the then-director of the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO) Josip Aladrović to favor the employment of a certain candidate in HZMO. Aladrović, USKOK points out, then sent through Mandac the questionnaires which were to be used in the selection process to the candidate, which gave her an advantage over the other candidates. After several additional corrupt steps, HZMO ended up signing an employment contract with her for an indefinite period. According to the media, the candidate/employee in question is Lidija Sinković, whose father is Horvat's friend. Ana Mandac is also accused of asking Aladrović, at Juzbašić's request, to favor another candidate in order to hire her at HZMO, which Aladrović did the same way as previously described. After the candidate achieved the maximum number of points, she was also employed on an indefinite contract. The media previously reported that this part of the indictments refers to Petra Periša.

ZAGREB, 9 May 2022 - It is questionable if the expanded application of audio recordings of court hearings will contribute to making proceedings faster, Supreme Court judge Damir Kos said at a two-day seminar on novelties in Croatian criminal legislation in Opatija on Monday.

Addressing the seminar, Kos spoke about the latest changes to the Criminal Procedure Act, including the expanded application of audio recordings of hearings, communication via video link and increased use of electronic communication in delivering documents to parties in criminal proceedings.

He said, among other things, that those changes were acceptable in principle but warned that such an experiment should not be undertaken without previously analysing objections from the ground as they indicated that this would not necessarily help improve court efficiency.

Presenting an overview of judgements and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in cases against Croatia, Supreme Court judge Marin Mrčela said that in 2021 the ECHR ruled on 682 petitions, rejecting 637 or 93%. In 34 of 37 judgements that refer to 45 petitions, at least one violation each of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was identified, he said.

In 2021 there were 26 judgements and decisions in cases against Croatia pertaining to criminal law, and violations of the Convention were identified in 16, Mrčela said.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 19 March, 2021 - A 50-year-old man has been taken into custody following an extensive operation by the police, state attorney and the security-intelligence agency (SOA) on the suspicion of torturing and killing seven Vukovar civilians during the Homeland War in September 1991.

The suspect and members of his paramilitary unit are believed to have punched, kicked and hit with their rifle butts a group of seven civilians, aged between 24 and 55, whom they found in the basement of a house in Vukovar.

The perpetrators then led the captured civilians to the city centre, killing six on the way, while a 55-year-old prisoner was wounded.

After that, the suspect and the other paramilitaries returned to the house and collected the women and children staying there whom they also wanted to take to the city centre but were stopped by an unidentified Serb army officer. The women and children and the wounded 55-year-old man were returned to the basement, however, the next day the 55-year-old was killed by an unidentified Serb paramilitary.

The police reported that after the reintegration of the Danube region an exhumation was conducted and six of the murdered civilians were identified. A 27-year-old man from that group is still unaccounted for.

The suspect was taken into custody while the Osijek County Attorney's office has filed criminal charges against him for war crimes against civilians.

For more about the war in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.