The Zagreb County Court has fully upheld the first indictment against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, for taking HRK 3.6 million in kickbacks for a loan Austrian Hypo bank had approved to Croatia in the mid-1990s, prosecutor from the national anti-corruption office USKOK Tamara Laptos said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse after a two-hour closed hearing, Laptos said that the panel of judges confirmed the indictment for war profiteering and that she was pleased with the decision. She added that the file would be submitted to another panel of judges to schedule a preparatory hearing at which a date for the trial would be fixed.
Laptos declined to reveal details of the hearing, citing confidentiality.
The indictment says that Sanader, in his capacity as Deputy Foreign Minister, received HRK 3.6 million in kickbacks for securing a loan from Hypo bank to Croatia in the mid-1990s.
Sanader's first appearance in court was marked by tight security in and around the courthouse in central Zagreb.
