The preliminary hearing and the trial will be presided by Judge Ivan Turudic.

Turudic was appointed presiding judge in the case after the Zagreb County Court last week fully upheld the first indictment against the former prime minister for taking HRK 3.6 million in kickbacks for a loan Austrian Hypo bank had approved to Croatia in the mid-1990s.

The hearing will be closed to the public. At the hearing, with the consent of all parties, the judge can suspend investigative detention against the defendant or replace it with a less strict measure, which cannot be appealed.

Asked if the defence would request that Sanader be released from prison on bail, as speculated by the media, one of Sanader's attorneys, Goran Suic, said at this moment the defence was not looking into the possibility of bail.

"We are waiting for 18 October, when the investigative detention against our client expires and when a hearing discussing that matter will be held. Depending on the court's decision, we will act accordingly," Suic told reporters.

Sanader rejected "with loathing" the charge of war profiteering at his first appearance before the Zagreb County Court last week.

The indictment says that Sanader, in his capacity as Deputy Foreign Minister, received HRK 3.6 million in kickbacks for securing a loan from Hypo bank to Croatia in the mid-1990s.

The media announced in July the possibility that Turudic could be the presiding judge in the Sanader trial.

Turudic, the president of the Zagreb County Court and head of its anti corruption department, is also known as the judge who sentenced businessman Hrvoje Petrac for the abduction of the son of Vladimir Zagorec, as well as former ambassador Neven Jurica and former deputy PM Damir Polancec.

Turudic was also the first judge in Croatia to confiscate property the origin of which could not be established.

According to the media, Turudic was under police protection twice.