Hungary seems to have agreed to allow Croatian politician Radimir Cacic to serve his 22-month sentence in a Croatian prison after the county court in the Hungarian city of Kaposvar earlier this year found him guilty of a fatal traffic accident in Hungary in 2010 and handed down a prison term of 22 months to him, according to unofficial reports from Croatia's justice ministry on Friday.
Hungary has sent its prior approval hence giving Croatia the right to execute the Kaposvar court's ruling in the case of former Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister, according to the justice ministry.
According to some media reports, Hungary is likely to forward the necessary documentation next week to the relevant court in Croatia which is then expected to deliver its ruling, without considering the merit of the case. The Croatian court can only decide on a penalty in compliance with domestic legislation and practice and it cannot be harsher than the verdict made by the Hungarian court. In the event of their dissatisfaction with the decision by the Croatian judiciary, Hungary's judicial authorities can withdraw their approval for the exequatur procedure.
On 14 November, the Kaposvar county court delivered a final ruling sentencing Cacic to 22 months in prison for the 2010 traffic accident. The Kaposvar court made the first-instance ruling on 29 June 2012 when it found Cacic guilty of causing a traffic accident with two fatalities in Hungary in 2010, and gave him a 22-month suspended sentence with a probation of three years. Cacic's Chrysler hit a Skoda Fabia on the Nagykanisza-Budapest motorway on 8 January 2010, and two passengers from the Skoda Fabia died of injuries sustained in the crash. Since the very beginning, Cacic claimed that he was driving at 125 km/hr, below the upper limit, when the accident occurred, and that he had entered a patch of fog which made visibility poor. The prosecutors claimed that Cacic failed to adjust his driving to the conditions on the motorway, which caused the fatal accident.
Following the final non-suspended ruling Cacic stepped down as the deputy prime minister and government minister, but he remained at the helm of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), a junior partner in the four-party governing coalition.
Cacic's attorney Cedo Prodanovic today was not available for comment. Upon the announcement of the final ruling, the lawyer said they would seek possibilities for Cacic to serve his term in Croatia.
The 1983 Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and an additional Protocol to the convention which Croatia confirmed in 1994 and again in 2009 allows the possibility for Cacic to serve his sentence in Croatia. By virtue of the Convention the sentenced person must request the transfer and both countries involved have to give their approval keeping in mind the principle of mutuality.
