The trial of former Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polancec and seven other defendants in the case dubbed "Spice" started before the Zagreb County Court on Wednesday morning with the reading of the anti-corruption agency (USKOK) indictment.
After the arraignment, all defendants entered a plea of not guilty.
Apart from Polancec, the accused in the case are: former executives of Podravka Darko Marinac, Zdravko Sestak, Josip Pavlovic and Sasa Romac, manager of the SMS company Srdjan Mladinic, co-owner of Fima Group Milan Horvat, and lawyer Zoran Markovic.
They are charged with a conspiracy to buy a majority stake in Podravka with the company's own money, defrauding it of more than 400 million kuna (54 million euros).
The indictment was read by USKOK prosecutor Tamara Laptos.
After the arraignment, presiding judge Sinisa Plesa, called a recess. The hearing was expected to resume at 1100 hours when the USKOK prosecutor and defence lawers are expected to deliver their opening statements.
