Justice Minister Drazen Bosnjakovic had a minor traffic accident on November 13 when he skidded off the A3 motorway near Ivanic Grad, about 35 kilometres east of Zagreb, his ministry confirmed on Tuesday, denying media reports that he withheld this information.
"Claims by some Croatian newspapers that the information about this traffic accident was withheld are not true because Minister Bosnjakovic called the police immediately after the accident," the Justice Ministry said in a statement.
No one else was involved in the accident and the damage to the car was inconsiderable. Since the car was government-owned, the minister immediately called the police, who carried out an on-site investigation and found that Bosnjakovic was not driving under the influence. Bosnjakovic paid a fine of 600 kuna (80 euros), the statement said.
Media reports said on Tuesday that Bosnjakovic, a candidate of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in the forthcoming parliamentary election, had withheld the information about the accident, adding that it happened around the same time as that involving the opposition Mayor of Varazdin, Goran Habus, over which the HDZ attacked the centre-left opposition led by the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
