Former Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polancec said in the Fimi Media corruption trial on Monday that the presidency of the HDZ party, of which he was a member, had never discussed or decided on the former ruling party's financial plan and annual balance sheet, but that no presidency member objected to the conclusions proposed by the party's then president, Ivo Sanader.
Although he did not talk about the grounds of the indictment accusing the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union), Sanader et al. of siphoning more than HRK 70 million (approx. 9.5 million euros) from state institutions and companies, Polancec recalled that the HDZ presidency discussed the editorial policy of some media and the selection of singers to perform at the party's conferences.
He revealed that the party paid young activists to vote for government members by phone or online when they guested on TV or on social networks. Polancec said he was told this by Sanader's then spokesman Ratko Macek, who is also indicted and who was in charge of HDZ promotion on local radio stations and the editorial policy of some media.
Polancec said the HDZ presidency had never discussed buying any media but that their editorial policy was discussed. The presidency entrusted Macek with elaborating how the editorial policy of the Hrvatski List newspaper could be changed, he added.
Polancec said there was a rich catering at every HDZ presidency session. He once said it was too much, to which Macek replied that "the less you ask, the better for you."
Although the presidency did not discuss the annual balance sheet and financial reports, it did discuss donations after legislative amendments stipulated that all finances had to be recorded in the party's headquarters and not county branches, Polancec said, adding that it was then that he found out that the party's then secretary general Ivan Jarnjak and treasurer Mladen Barisic were in charge of all donations.
Responding to a question from the HDZ's attorneys, Polancec said he did not know who took care of the party's costs. He said revenues were not discussed at the presidency meetings, but that the bulk of the money came from the state budget and donations, not membership fees.
Polancec said that under the party's statute, the financial operations were in the remit of the president but that the president and the secretary general were "the first persons in the hierarchy."
The trial resumes on Tuesday.
Sanader and Macek pleaded not guilty to siphoning state money via the Fimi Media marketing agency, while the HDZ's attorneys claim the party's bodies knew nothing about the wrongdoing. Barisic, Fimi Media owner Nevenka Jurak and former HDZ accountant Branka Pavosevic pleaded guilty to all charges.
