October the 20th, 2021 - The Croatian State Attorney's Office's indictment against former Agrokor boss Ivica Todoric, as well as fourteen of his former accomplices, remains unconfirmed to this day.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the indictment of the State Attorney's Office in the Agrokor case against the former owner Ivica Todoric and fourteen other defendants charged with varying forms of abuse of the former company worth hundreds of millions of kuna has not been confirmed yet, and now it has become questionable whether the key evidence is even legal, as reported by Jutarnji list.

The High Criminal Court Chamber, chaired by Judge Ivan Turudic, partially upheld the defense's appeals over key evidence in the Agrokor case - a bookkeeping (financial) finding prepared by KPMG's Polish subsidiary. The defense argues that this evidence is actually illegal.

As to the legality of the expertise, the High Criminal Court considers that it cannot examine the decisive facts at all or determine whether there are reasons to single out this evidence as illegal in itself. According to the court, it is disputable that it isn't clear who (and indeed to what extent) participated in the preparation of the expert report in question, and therefore it wasn't possible to verify whether the persons who participated in the preparation of the findings and opinions were in conflict of interest. If that is the case, it could well be a legal reason for exemption.

Namely, although the accounting and financial expertise has been signed by Ismet Kamal, an employee of the Polish branch of KPMG, the defense pointed out that KMPG Hrvatska also worked on it, which, given that it was hired by the then extraordinary management of Agrokor, and that there was a conflict of interest. Therefore, the expertise is considered illegal.

Expert witness Kamal pointed out that he was responsible for the finding and opinion, and that he couldn't disclose information about the persons who helped him due to the signed statement of confidentiality under GDPR. The County Court also received such an answer from KPMG's branch in Poland. That was enough for the Indictment Chamber to reject the motion to separate the expertise as illegal evidence in the case against ex-Agrokor boss Ivica Todoric.

This was not the case, however, for the High Criminal Court, which gave the Indictment Chamber of the County Court a clear instruction to conduct the so-called trial on the legality of the evidence, call Ismet Kamal as a witness, determine who participated in the preparation of the accounting and financial expertise and work out whether or not he was in a conflict of interest.

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ZAGREB, 22 April, 2021 - Justice Minister Ivan Malenica on Thursday asked the Supreme Court and the Chief State Prosecutor to say whether the existing law is sufficient for adopting decisions on precautionary measures for convicted persons, after Zoran Mamić requested to serve his sentence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"I'm writing you with the wish to continue the joint cooperation with the aim of building a better judicial system and an effective normative framework in the area of criminal law," Minister Ivan Malenica wrote in a letter a day after the prime minister claimed that it is necessary to clear up whether the existing legal framework is good enough for issuing precautionary measures or whether omissions are made.

"These days we have witnessed a situation where a convicted person, prior to being sent to serve his sentence, left the territory of the Republic of Croatia and is asking to serve his sentence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This refers to Zoran Mamić, who was convicted to 4 years and 8 months in prison, in a case in which his brother Zdravko Mamić was sentenced to prison too. I remind you that one day prior to the delivery of a trial verdict, Zdravko Mamić too left Croatia and since then he is unreachable to Croatian authorities," Malenica wrote in the letter.

He underscored that this isn't the only case where convicted felons with dual citizenship have managed to avoid serving their sentences in Croatia.

Situations which undermine citizens' trust in the system 

"From the above it transpires that this is a systemic problem, that is situations which recur and which will probably occur in the future," said Malenica, adding that these situations justifiably undermine the trust of citizens in the judicial system and of the perception of the judiciary's efficiency and equity.

"They are also in contradiction to the objective of the criminal procedure which is carried out to determine, as stipulated by the law, whether a crime was committed and if it was, to punish the perpetrator or apply another appropriate measure. In situations like this, that purpose, from the aspect of applying punishment, is brought into question and it is not certain whether it will be met entirely or at all," said Malenica.

In his letter, Malenica asks what the executive authority can do to enable the judiciary to ensure that convicted felons cannot leave the country to avoid serving their sentence.

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ZAGREB, 17 March, 2021 - Minister of Justice and Public Administration Ivan Malenica said on Wednesday that he expects the State Attorney to urgently investigate claims made by football mogul Zdravko Mamić who has accused Supreme Court Chief Justice Đuro Sessa and Osijek County Court judges of corruption.

"I trust that the competent bodies will urgently check Mr Mamić's claims and the content of the (USB) stick which I am not familiar with at the moment, and that they will quickly determine whether the accusations, which I consider grave and serious, are founded," said Malenica, adding that Mamić said that he had given a USB stick with the material to the competent bodies.

Malenica told reporters that that case was now with the State Attorney, who had received the material and would now check it to determine if the claims were authentic after which certain procedures would be launched accordingly.

Asked whether it would be appropriate for the county court judges and chief justice whom Mamić mentioned to be temporarily suspended until the investigation was completed, considering the gravity of the accusations, Malenica said that that was up to the State Judicial Council.

"The accusations are grave, but if we were to react to all the accusations against individual judges and suspend them, I don't know where we would be," said Malenica.

Asked whether the reaction was sufficiently prompt considering the fact that Mamić sent the USB stick last October, Malenica said that he was not familiar with the content of the documents and what sort of reaction they required from the competent bodies that need to determine their authenticity based on defined procedures before any conclusion can be released. He said that the question was for the State Attorney's Office to say how fast it should have, could have or would have to react.

"I cannot say if there is anything contentious, however, I do expect the State Attorney to react as soon as possible if there are any grounds based on those claims to launch certain proceedings, and that will certainly reflect on the status of those judges," said Malenica.

He believes that Supreme Court Chief Justice Đuro Sessa and the other judges Mamić mentioned, need to react to Mamić's claims. "I expect Sessa, as does the entire public, to react to the allegations but I think this isn't the first time Mamić has mentioned Sessa," said Malenica.

Malenica added that he can't say whether this will affect Sessa's chances of being re-elected as Supreme Court Chief Justice but he believes that accusations against him are grave and serious.

After the Supreme Court upheld a first instance ruling sentencing Mamić to six and a half years in prison, during a press conference in Mostar yesterday, Mamić accused Sessa and Osijek County Court Judges Zvonko Vekić and Darko Krušlin of corruption while calling the chief justice of that court, Judge Zvonko Vrban, a criminal.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that Sessa had no intention of reacting to the "absurd and untrue claims," whereas the USKOK anti-corruption office said that "Zdravko Mamić had sent his statement on a (USB) stick to the State Attorney on 8 October last year and as soon as the stick was received, USKOK began investigating its content and the investigation is still ongoing."

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ZAGREB, June 30 (Hina) - The Bridge party on Tuesday called out the State Attorney's Office (DORH) for administering "selective justice", saying that it does not adhere to the law but follows political instructions, which is why it is necessary to change the way state attorneys are selected.

"DORH is often in the service of politics. It is not fulfilling its purpose and it is necessary to change the way the chief state prosecutor is selected," Bridge's political secretary Nikola Grmoja told a press conference.

He said that there are two possible selection procedures, one being a two-thirds majority vote in the Sabor, "even though we select constitutional court judges that way which hasn't proven to be that efficient," he admitted.

"We all know that constitutional court judges are chosen by agreement between the HDZ and SDP which then leaves room for political bartering," Grmoja noted.

The other way is through direct election just like the president is elected.

"We have seen that until now DORH has behaved by turning a blind eye to some, while some people are arrested ahead of an election in an effort to curry favour with this or that political group. That has to change. We need an independent judiciary and institutions," Grmoja said.

Party colleague Tomislav Jelic said the DORH administers "selective justice", citing the Croatia Osiguranje (CO) insurance scandal in 2013 and 2014. Experts are preparing a suit which will prove that Croatian citizens - as owners of CO - were robbed of HRK 3.5 billion (about €450 million) "when CO was given away to the Adris Group in a scandalous way."

Even though a state audit found that the privatisation of CO was illegal, DORH has done nothing about it, Jelic said.

County attorneys have not been replaced for years and it is "high time after the election for some people in DORH to be charged for their inaction and covering up crimes," Jelic said.