Croatia’s First Trial Against a Political Party Set for April

Current HDZ president Jadranka Kosor, who served as prime minister from Sanader’s sudden resignation in 2009 until the December elections is expected to testify.

According to prosecutors, HDZ overpaid the public relations firm “Fimi media” for marketing contracts for state companies such as Croatia’s electricity provider, Hrvatska Elektropriveda (HEP), siphoning some of the money directly into an HDZ slush fund.

The firm allegedly charged HEP enormous sums for catering and marketing services, sending some of the government’s money straight into an HDZ slush fund.

The Croatian Bureau for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK) will present as evidence to the court bank statements from accounts belonging to former party members, as well as those belonging to Sanader’s family.

Former HDZ spokesman Ratko Macek, treasurer Mladen Barisic  and cashier Branka Pavosevic will stand trial along with the owner of “Fimi media” Nevenka Jurak.

Jurak, Pavosevic and Barisic pleaded guilty to the charges, but refused to make a deal with USKOK. The three defendants will try to get a reduced sentence by saying that they acted on Sanader’s orders.

“Someone admits guilt for a crime, and then they say ‘Sanader told me to do it.’ We will prove during this trial that it was not so,” Sanader told the press.

The owners of two other companies used to skim public money for the HDZ’s slush fund, Anita Loncar Papes and Bojan Dimic, accepted plea bargains. Dimic was sentenced to 6 months in prison, and Loncar Papes to 11 months. Between them, they must pay the state $664,000.

Detailed documentation created by Pavosevic has revealed the beneficiaries of the HDZ slush fund in 2007. Among them are Jadranka Kosor, former Interior Minister Ivica Kirin, army generals Kresimir Cosic and Bozo Biskupic, current candidate for the president of HDZ Milan Kujundzic, and Sanader’s daughters Petra and Bruna. The prosecution also included as evidence the savings accounts of Sanader’s brother and sister, and father in law.

The presiding judge Ivana Calic on Wednesday agreed to hear the testimony of 150 witnesses from the defense and prosecution. The defense asked to examine 200 witnesses, while the prosecution asked for 349. The judge will consider the inclusion of the other suggested witnesses during the trial.

The indictment in the “Fimi media” case is one of the most extensive in the history of the Croatian judiciary. It is also the third indictment against Sanader, who is currently on trial for taking bribes from Austria's Hypo Bank to facilitate a loan and from the Hungarian petrol company MOL, to ensure Hungarian control over Croatia’s state petrol company INA.