The seizure of paintings and sculptures was appealed by Sanader, his wife Mirjana and his business partner Steven Vatroslav Brkich, with whom Sanader ran the Perbujac and Alia Savjetovanje companies after stepping down as PM in 2009.

The court ruled that the appeals against the investigating judge's decision were unfounded, said court spokesman Kresimir Devcic.

He recalled that the decision was the same as in the case of appeals against the blockade of several private bank accounts, business premises in Zagreb's Sarengradska Street, and Sanader's shares in the firms he ran with Brkich.

Sanader's attorney Goran Suic said he could not comment on the latest decision before receiving it in writing.

Commenting on media reports that before his arrest in Austria last month Sanader had managed to hide several valuable works of art and a valuable collection of watches, Suic told Hina such claims were unfounded and announced that he would soon visit Sanader again in prison in Salzburg, Austria.

According to unofficial reports, the seized works of art, following a preliminary appraisal, are worth about HRK 6 million. They are stored at the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art.

Croatia's Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime suspects Sanader of abuse of office in financial wrongdoing involving the power company HEP and the petrochemical company Dioki and of conspiracy to siphon funds from ministries and state-owned companies via the Fimi Media marketing agency.