Equity
Former Croatian PM Sanader walks out of custody
Sanader, who was greeted by his lawyers in front of the building, told journalists in the parking lot of the jail that he is dissatisfied with Croatia’s system of justice for he would have been a free man a long time ago if the court had not handled each of his cases separately rather than combined. This, he said, was unconstitutional and unprecedented in the European legal system.
Sanader left investigative custody on Wednesday following a ruling by the Zagreb County Court that morning, which followed a Constitutional Court ruling terminating Sanader’s custody on Tuesday, giving the county court until 1 December to pass a new decision.
Sanader had been serving a ten-year prison sentence since November 2012. Last year, the Supreme Court lowered the sentence to 8.5 years.
Before the Constitutional Court quashed Sanader's earlier prison sentence for corruption and war profiteering issued by the Supreme Court in June 2014, Sanader was found guilty of receiving 10 million euro in bribes for selling the energy company INA to Hungary's oil company Mol and for taking illegal fees in talks between Austria’s Hypo Bank and the government between late 1994 and March 1995, during the war in Croatia.
Since his retrial was set for September, the County Court decided not to release Sanader in August.
The Croatian Constitutional Court on September 30 ruled that were no legal grounds to keep Sanader behind bars after the Supreme Court acquitted him in the so-called "Fimi Media' case.
Zeljka Mostecak, head of the Croatian anti-graft authority, confirmed that USKOK would appeal the decision.
Sanader’s lawyer, Jadranka Slokovic, said his passport had been returned to him and he was now free to travel without restrictions or limitations.Zsolt Hernádi, Chairman-CEO of Hungarian energy group Mol, was taken off of Interpol’s wanted list on Wednesday, local news portal nol.hu reported on Thursday. Hernádi is on and off the list and it is unclear at this point what has triggered the latest change.
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This also shows that I am the victim of a political vendetta
, Sanader stressed. He added that there is no final judgement against him and that he will keep fighting to prove his innocence. The former PM said he would not have political ambitions in the future, that chapter in his life is closed.Sanader left investigative custody on Wednesday following a ruling by the Zagreb County Court that morning, which followed a Constitutional Court ruling terminating Sanader’s custody on Tuesday, giving the county court until 1 December to pass a new decision.
Sanader had been serving a ten-year prison sentence since November 2012. Last year, the Supreme Court lowered the sentence to 8.5 years.
Before the Constitutional Court quashed Sanader's earlier prison sentence for corruption and war profiteering issued by the Supreme Court in June 2014, Sanader was found guilty of receiving 10 million euro in bribes for selling the energy company INA to Hungary's oil company Mol and for taking illegal fees in talks between Austria’s Hypo Bank and the government between late 1994 and March 1995, during the war in Croatia.
Since his retrial was set for September, the County Court decided not to release Sanader in August.
The Croatian Constitutional Court on September 30 ruled that were no legal grounds to keep Sanader behind bars after the Supreme Court acquitted him in the so-called "Fimi Media' case.
Zeljka Mostecak, head of the Croatian anti-graft authority, confirmed that USKOK would appeal the decision.
Sanader’s lawyer, Jadranka Slokovic, said his passport had been returned to him and he was now free to travel without restrictions or limitations.Zsolt Hernádi, Chairman-CEO of Hungarian energy group Mol, was taken off of Interpol’s wanted list on Wednesday, local news portal nol.hu reported on Thursday. Hernádi is on and off the list and it is unclear at this point what has triggered the latest change.
Click here for more.
