The Austrian daily Kurier on Sunday ran an exclusive interview with Mirjana Sanader in which she said that her husband, Croatian ex-prime minister Ivo Sanader, was innocent, that there was an atmosphere of fear in Croatia and that "Ivo will not return to the country" because he most probably would not stand a fair trial there.
Mrs Sanader visits her husband in the investigating prison in Salzburg every Thursday.
In the interview she complained that hour-long weekly visits were too short for her and her husband to talk about everything, adding that she was unable to talk to him about the interview, and reiterating that her "husband is completely innocent and one day this will be proved".
Mrs Sanader described the situation her family and the entire Croatia was in.
"We are under house arrest, so to speak. My daughter and I are being spied on and tapped, although we have not been accused. There is an atmosphere of fear in Croatia, not only in our house but in the entire country. I believe we are all being tapped. People say its almost the same as it was during the Communist regime. I did not witness that because I moved to Austria immediately after high school, enjoying total freedom there," Mrs Sanader said in the interview that was conducted in Vienna
She resolutely dismissed claims that her husband had escaped, stressing that he had been on a business trip when he was arrested.
She also refuted in the strongest terms claims that her husband had received six million kuna in black plastic bags from an unknown person in their home.
Mrs Sanader also dismissed claims that her husband had planned to return to politics.
At the end of the interview, she reiterated that her husband was innocent.
Sanader has been in extradition custody in Austria since his arrest on December 10. He was arrested on a warrant issued by Croatian authorities which want him on suspicion of corruption.
