"The police released both of them before the expiry of the 24-hour detention period," Crlenjak's lawyer Mate Matic told press, explaining that the police either had to release them before the expiry of that period or take them to the Zagreb County Prosecutor's Office to decide whether it would demand that they be remanded in custody or release them pending completion of the investigation.

Matic said that the police had obviously decided that there was no need to take them to the Prosecutor's Office. "They have carried out their preliminary inquiries and have found nothing, so perhaps that led them to give up their activities."

Matic said that the police had not notified the County Prosecutor's Office of Wednesday's arrest of Crlenjak and Vlajcevic. He added that he saw nothing illegal in that since the Prosecutor's Office had earlier made a request to establish certain facts.

Spokeswoman for the County Prosecutor's Office Dunja Pavlicek confirmed that Crlenjak and Vlajcevic had been released before being taken to the County Prosecutor's Office. "We have been notified that they will not be coming for questioning and the police can file criminal charges against them as a matter of course," she said.

Matic rejected speculations that his client and Vlajcevic had been arrested over the Kamensko case, saying that it was actually about shares of the firm Dalta.

Some media say that Dalta, which is associated with the co-owner of the EPH newspaper publisher, Ninoslav Pavic, played a key role in the takeover of the Zagreb textile factory Kamensko, which was allegedly deliberately ruined for the sake of its valuable land and real estate.

"It has nothing to do with Kamensko. It's a media-orchestrated campaign that is going in the wrong direction," Matic said.

EPH has on several occasions dismissed suspicions about Pavic's involvement in the Kamensko case.