Judge Ivan Turudic has been appointed presiding judge in the trial of former Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader for bribe taking in the Hypo Bank case, while members of the panel of judges and dates of the preparatory hearing and the main hearing will be decided at a later date, the Zagreb County Court reported on its website on Tuesday.
Turudic was appointed presiding judge in the case after the Zagreb County Court last week fully upheld the first indictment against the former prime minister for taking HRK 3.6 million in kickbacks for a loan Austrian Hypo bank had approved to Croatia in the mid-1990s.
The media announced in July the possibility that Turudic could be the presiding judge in the Sanader trial.
Turudic, the president of the Zagreb County Court and head of its anti corruption department, is also known as the judge who sentenced businessman Hrvoje Petrac for the abduction of the son of Vladimir Zagorec, as well as former ambassador Neven Jurica and former deputy PM Damir Polancec.
Turudic was also the first judge in Croatia to confiscate property the origin of which could not be established.
According to the media, Turudic was under police protection twice.
