Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Vice Presidents Vladimir Seks and Ivan Jaranjak told a news conference in Zagreb on Monday that this ruling party was operating absolutely in compliance with the legislation on financing of political parties and accused lawyer Anto Nobilo of trying through his interviews and statements to the media "to criminalise and dismantle" the HDZ.
They also expressed dissatisfaction with the Croatian HTV national broadcaster over what they said was a lack of professionalism in its report on the responsibility of the HDZ in its capacity as a legal entity.
Commenting on the report aired in the HTV prime time news programme on Sunday, Seks said that Anto Nobilo, who is a legal representative for Damir Polancec, a former high-ranking HDZ official, opted for a "special way of trying to carry out a series of political assassinations against the HDZ, the party leadership, the presidency and the party president Jadranka Kosor".
"It is obvious that Polancec is his means and that he does not care for Polancec's final destiny," Seks said, adding that Nobilo's main strategic goal was "to harm and damage the political interests of the HDZ and to criminalise the party's leadership".
Seks said that it was obvious from the lawyer's public statements that he based the strategy for Polancec's defence on a war against the HDZ.
Such attempts are contrary to the code of conduct of lawyers, the HDZ official said.
Nobilo represents Former Deputy Prime Minister Polancec in several cases in which the state anti-corruption investigating agency (USKOK) charges him with abuse of office and white-collar crime. The HDZ Presidency unanimously decided in mid-September to expunge Polancec from its membership records for damaging the party's reputation.
Jarnjak said that the HDZ's sources of funding were donations as well as state, county, city and municipal budgets, depending on how many HDZ representatives were sitting in parliament and local assemblies.
The HDZ is financed absolutely according to the law, as shown by annual reports which the party forwards to the Office of the Chief State Auditor, Jarnjak said.
Lawyer Nobilo gave a statement in an HTV feature on alleged slush funds in the HDZ and charges which parliamentarian Ivica Pancic of the Croatian Social Democrats pressed against the HDZ over those allegations.
Nobilo said if the former HDZ leader, Ivo Sanader, was suspected of those murky dealings, then the entire HDZ should be under suspicion.
Seks accused the national television of making an unprofessional report as the authors failed to invite HDZ representatives to give their opinion on the matter.
