Former President Stjepan Mesic dismissed as untrue at the Zagreb County Court on Monday claims by political scientist Darko Petricic that Mesic had ties with the Albanian mafia and favoured tycoons, the court said.
Mesic filed a private lawsuit against Petricic for defamation in December 2009, when he was president, in the wake of Petricic's statements on Croatian Television and Zagreb's Radio 101.
Investigating Judge Kresimir Devcic, who heard Mesic today, said he dismissed all of Petricic's accusations as "false and untrue."
Mesic was accompanied by attorney Cedo Prodanovic, who told reporters the private lawsuit was filed, among other things, because of Petricic's claims that the then president was an advocate of the Albanian mafia, that it had financed his presidential campaign, that he favoured tycoons and was one of the three richest men in Croatia.
After making the claims on TV and radio, Petricic said in an open letter that he stood behind everything he said, but failed to produce any hard evidence.
Prodanovic said Petricic was standing mute, even though, under the law, he carries burden of proof.
