Former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader will be released from custody after Zagreb County Court investigating judge Kresimir Devcic decided on Wednesday to release him on 12.4 million kuna (1.65 million euros) bail, the highest in Croatia's judicial history.
Sanader will have to hand over his passport and will not be allowed to leave his place of residence.
Prosecutor Tamara Laptos said she would appeal the amount of bail set, while the defence will appeal the measure of precaution that forbids Sanader to leave Zagreb. They have three days to file their appeals.
Sanader is due out of prison by no later than 7 am on Monday December 12, as stipulated in Tuesday's Constitutional Court ruling.
The bail money was raised by his friends Parliament Speaker Luka Bebic, Jerko Rosin and Mario Zubovic and by his wife Mirjana Sanader, who all pledged their property as security. Two more people, including former footballer Tomo Sokota, raised 300,000 euros in cash.
Sanader was arrested in Austria on December 10 last year and was extradited to Croatia on July 18 to face corruption charges. He has been in Zagreb's Remetinec prison since.
Sanader is due to appear before the Zagreb County Court on Thursday in the continuation of the trial for taking 3.6 million kuna (480,000 euros) in kickbacks to facilitate a loan to Croatia from Austria's Hypo bank and for taking 10 million euros in bribes from the CEO of the Hungarian oil company MOL, Zsolt Hernadi, to secure MOL a dominant position in the Croatian oil company INA.
