On the first day of the pre-trial hearing, scheduled for March 19-21, Judge Ivana Calic confirmed the plea bargain of Anita Loncar Papes, who pleaded guilty in exchange for an 11-month prison term and a fine of 2 million kuna which she would pay back to the government, after USKOK claimed that she had "earned" that amount in this case of reported syphoning of money from state institutions and public companies for the formerly ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and Ivo Sanader, who was Prime Minister and HDZ leader at the time relevant to the indictment.

Bojan Dimic, the other indictee to have reached a plea agreement with USKOK, will serve a six-month prison term and pay back HRK 1.8 million to the state. Under the indictment, the money was syphoned from state institutions and companies through Dimic's 'Onida' company which will be folded as part of the plea bargain.

Judge Calic today made rulings for the two indictees in line with their plea deals.

Asked if his client Loncar Papes would appear as a witness in the forthcoming trial in this case, lawyer Mitko Naumovski told reporters he did not think her testimony would be necessary, but that she would take the witness stand, if summoned.

USKOK representative Zeljka Mostecak, who is the prosecutor in the case, confirmed the upholding of the two plea agreements and added that the "Ani Lon" company, owned by Loncar Papes, would also have to pay back HRK 15,000.

Ani Lon, Dimic's Onida company and the privately owned Fimi Media company, after which the scandal was named, were used for syphoning more than 70 million kuna from state institutions and ministries, according to the indictment.

The USKOK prosecutor declined to say if more plea bargains could be expected.

The pre-trial hearing will resume on Tuesday with the appearance of the remaining indictees: Sanader, four other former HDZ officials, Fimi Media owner Nevenka Jurak, and Damir Sesvecan as the HDZ's representative in the case.

The Fimi Media case is one of the biggest corruption scandals in Croatia. Apart from Sanader and the HDZ as a legal entity, the following former senior party officials are accused in this case: Mladen Barisic, treasurer; Ratko Macek, government spokesman and HDZ election campaign manager; and Branka Pavosevic, accountant.

Lawyers for Sanader, who is alleged to have made a personal gain of 15 million kuna in this case, have announced the questioning of some 50 witnesses for the defence. They have declined to say if they will call the current HDZ leader Jadranka Kosor, who used to be Sanader's deputy, to testify.

The 500-page indictment in the Fimi Media scandal is the third indictment issued against former PM and HDZ chief Sanader.

The first two indictments, one alleging that he took bribes in the INA-MOL case and the other that he took a commission when the Hypo bank approved a loan to Croatia in the mid-1990s, which was qualified as war profiteering, were joined and he is already standing trial before the Zagreb County Court for them.