Sanader has been in the Remitenec prison facilities in Zagreb since 18 July when he was extradited from Austria.

A hearing on the extension of his detention will be held in the Remetinec, starting on 0930 hrs tomorrow with the suspect attending it, investigating judge Kresimir Devcic told press on Tuesday.

The judge is expected to consider the arguments from both Sanader's defence team and the Croatian anti-corruption investigative agency (USKOK) that insists on keeping Sanader, accused of white-collar crimes, behind bars for two more months.

No information could be obtained today from Sanader's lawyers whether they would offer bail for their client's release tomorrow.

A month ago they contested the claim that Sanader was a flight risk, explaining that he had left Croatia for Austria last December for a previously scheduled business meeting. Sanader was arrested in Salzburg after he was stripped of parliamentary immunity. Considering the matter pertaining to Sanader's detention, the court turned down this claim in late July, describing the suspect as a flight risk.

On that occasion the defence did not contest the second argument for his detention, that is a possibility of him tampering with witnesses.

Sanader, former PM and former president of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, is the prime suspect in the Fimi Media case. He is suspected of conspiring together with other suspects in the case, including former head of the Customs Administration Mladen Barisic, and of abuse of office to siphon funds from government ministries and state-owned companies through the private company Fimi Media. Some HRK 100 million is believed to have been siphoned off this way and some of the money ended up in the HDZ's slush fund.

Apart from the Fimi Media case, Sanader is suspected of illegal operations between the Croatian Power Company (HEP) and the Dioki petrochemical company, owned by Robert Jezic. He is also suspected that in 1995, in his capacity as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, he abused his office by arranging with Hypo Alpe Adria Bank a commission of HRK 3.5 million in exchange for a loan the bank approved to the Croatian government.

USKOK has widened the investigation against Sanader and Dioki owner Jezic on the suspicion that they attempted to gain an illegal profit of 10 million euros for Dioki at the expense of the state-owned oil pipeline operator JANAF. In mid-June, an investigation was launched on suspicion that he received EUR 10 million in kickbacks for awarding Hungary's MOL with management rights in Croatia's oil and gas group INA.

Austria is also investigating him and his involvement in money laundering, however no indictment has been issued yet.