"Given that Sanader's assets are blocked, collateral was put up by his friends. Luka Bebic offered his house, Jerko Rosin his flat in Split, Mario Zubovic his flat in Zagreb, and Sanader's wife Mirjana her third of their house," Goran Suic, one of Sanader's attorneys, told the press after a closed hearing at which Judge Kresimir Devcic granted the request by the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) to remand Sanader in custody.

Devcic concluded that Sanader was still a flight risk, although the defence claimed there was no such risk and that Sanader had never fled. They said that when he was arrested in Austria last December, he had been returning to Croatia and not running away.

Jadranka Slokovic, another member on the defence team, announced an appeal against the judge's decision.

Sanader has been in custody in Zagreb since July 18, when he was extradited from Austria. Judge Devcic set investigative detention for him on December 9 due to risks of flight and witness tampering in the Fimi Media embezzlement case.

In that case, the former prime minister is suspected of conspiring with former Customs chief Mladen Barisic and others and of abuse of office to siphon funds from ministries and state-owned companies through the Fimi Media advertising company. They are suspected of having siphoned about HRK 100 million, part of which allegedly ended up in slush funds of the ruling HDZ party. Sanader, its former president, is suspected of having illegally gained HRK 28 million.

Since his extradition this summer, two indictments have been filed against Sanader - one for war profiteering, namely for taking HRK 3.6 million in kickbacks for a loan which Austria's Hypo bank had given Croatia, and for taking EUR 10 million from MOL chairman of the board Zsolt Hernadi so that this Hungarian oil company could acquire management rights in the Croatian oil company INA.

The trial in the Hypo case has been scheduled to start on October 28.