The Croatian People's Party (HNS) leader on Tuesday afternoon issued a brief press release saying that he would use his right to lodge an appeal against the county court's ruling with the Croatian Supreme Court.

After deliberating in chambers, a panel of Zagreb County Court judges reached the verdict on Monday sentencing Cacic to one year and nine months in prison. They also decided that he would be eligible for an early release after serving at least half the sentence, court spokeswoman Ivana Calic told the press earlier on Tuesday.

Cacic will be allowed to apply for an early release after serving half the sentence, but will not be allowed to drive a car for three years.

The verdict was made public on Tuesday after all the parties were notified first. Cacic has 15 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Once it becomes final, the verdict will be delivered to the Ministry of Justice for action in accordance with the law on international legal aid and the law on the enforcement of prison sentences, Calic said.

Cacic's attorney Cedo Prodanovic said earlier they would appeal as soon as they received a written copy of the verdict. He claimed that Hungary did not insist that the sentence could not be reduced.

In late November 2012, Cacic was sentenced by a Hungarian court to 22 months' imprisonment for causing a car accident in Hungary in January 2010 in which two people were killed. Cacic immediately resigned as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy and asked the Hungarian authorities for permission to serve his sentence in Croatia. Hungary has given its preliminary approval and Cacic will be allowed to serve the sentence in Croatia only after the final decision of the Croatian court is approved by the Hungarian justice minister.