"I will exercise my legal right not to present my defence," Barisic told the panel of judges presided over by Judge Ivana Calic, after she asked him to present his defence as the first of the four defendants in this corruption case who have pleaded guilty.

Since Barisic did not want to testify, the panel of judges decided that his statements given during the investigation would be read out and that recordings of his questioning at the anti-corruption office USKOK would be examined.

Judge Calic said that the statements would be read out and examined in chronological order, starting with a recording of Barisic's first statement at USKOK, given on 29 September 2010.

According to parts of his statements given during the investigation, which were published previously in the media, the HDZ treasurer, who was also a state secretary at the Finance Ministry and director of the Customs Administration, instructed directors of state-run companies, as a person of trust of former Prime Minister and HDZ president Ivo Sanader, to do business with Fimi Media. After the signing of such business contracts, Barisic allegedly personally took the money in suitcases to Sanader.

After Barisic, the trial of the HDZ, its former leader Ivo Sanader and former party officials, will continue with the court hearing the other defendants who have pleaded guilty.

Apart from Barisic, the accused who have pleaded guilty are former HDZ accountant Branka Pavosevic, Fimi Media owner Nevenka Jurak, and Marica Ivankovic, who represents Fimi Media as a legal entity.

Sanader, his former spokesman Ratko Macek and the representative and defence of the HDZ have dismissed the prosecution's allegations that they siphoned around 70 million kuna from state agencies and companies, insisting that the HDZ's slush fund had been created without the knowledge of the party's bodies.