Former Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) minister Petar Cobankovic testified at the trial of former prime minister and HDZ president Ivo Sanader on Wednesday, saying that he was never "happy" about the sale of the building in Planinska Street in Zagreb and that he was in constant fear that the incident would end up in the media, causing problems for him, Sanader and the party.
"I thought it was not a good deal. I was afraid it would eventually make its way to the media and that I, the party and the president would have problems. On the other hand I told Sanader that I thought the price too high", Cobankovic told Zagreb County Court judges.
He recalled that Sanader had reacted in a sharp tone that it was not Cobankovic who was buying the building but the government. Sanader has been charged by the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) with receiving a commission of HRK 17 million for the sale of the building.
Cobankovic added that it was not Fiolic, also a high ranking party official, who sold the building but the bank after an evaluation was conducted of the building and a price set by an engineering office.
Cobankovic went on to describe how Fiolic had tried to sell the building to the state-owned forest management company Hrvatske Sume but eventually the deal was closed with the then Ministry of Regional Development but that Sanader had an important role in that deal.
The matter was put to the Cabinet and Cobankovic then explained that the purchase of the building would resolve his ministry's requirements for office space. He recalled that the decision was adopted at a closed session of the government and that Sanader had actually left the room and the meeting was taken over by Jadranka Kosor.
"It was not clear then why Sanader insisted that this matter be resolved. It was usually up to each ministry to argue for their needs", Cobankovic said.
Sanader's defence counsel lodged an objection to Cobankovic's testimony because he read the entire testimony which was obviously prepared in advance.
"The defence suspects that the witness was advised by the prosecution, particularly if we take into account the mild sentence the witness received", Cedo Prodanovic said, requesting that the witness' notes be photocopied for possible use some other time in the future.
Cobankovic, who had admitted to his role in the deal, was sentenced to one year in prison but exchanged the prison term for one year's community service.
Fiolic, though, did not plea bargain with USKOK even though he admitted that he had given Sanader HRK 17 million after the sale of the building had gone through.
