Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has not said yet if he wants to be extradited to Croatia or not, and the next hearing in his case has been set for December 27, state prosecutor Barbara Feichtinger said in Salzburg on Thursday.
Feichtinger said that if Sanader expressed a wish to be transferred to Croatia before the December 27 hearing, the Austrian Justice Ministry would immediately launch the procedure for his extradition.
Sanader was arrested in Austria last Friday based on a warrant issued by Croatian authorities. He is under investigation on the suspicion that he conspired with other suspects in the case of the Fimi Media marketing agency in order to siphon funds from government ministries and public companies and that he abused his powers in illegal dealings between the state-owned power supplier HEP and the Dioki petrochemical company.
After the Croatian parliament last Thursday stripped him of immunity from prosecution, a warrant was issued for his arrest because earlier that day he left Croatia. He was arrested the following day near Salzburg and placed in 14-day extradition custody.
Croatia has requested his extradition from Austrian authorities. A Zagreb court has ruled that Sanader be put in investigative prison due to a risk of escape and possible tampering with witnesses who are yet to be questioned in the Fimi Media case.
