"Had the law been respected, I would have been granted a provisional release from custody. USKOK should have joined all the cases into a single indictment, and since it failed to do so, that should have been done by the court as provided for under the law," Sanader said in his opening statement.

He said that the Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) conducted several simultaneous investigations against him, bringing charges every six months or so to create an impression of "a large amount of crime".

Judge Ivana Calic interrupted the accused by saying that he was in prison because he did not abide by the law and because he had been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the Hypo bank and INA-MOL corruption cases.

"I stand by my assertion. Had the cases been joined, the proceedings would still be in progress and I would not have spent 10 months in prison," Sanader said, adding that in that way he had been denied the right to freedom as the fundamental human right and the right to defence and a fair trial.

Sanader reiterated that he was a victim of political prosecution that was ordered by his successor as prime minister and head of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, Jadranka Kosor, and carried out with the aid of the media that convicted him in advance and under pressure from witnesses.

He recalled his active role "in the defence, reconstruction and promotion of Croatia abroad" which resulted in the country's accession to NATO in 2009 and the European Union on 1 July 2013. "I am not asking for gratitude or any concessions, but I am asking for the right to defence, presumption of innocence and a fair trial."

Sanader again dismissed the charges against him, saying that if he had done what he was accused of he would never have resigned as prime minister. "If I was in power, (the co-accused) Mladen Barisic would not dare lie nor would (chief prosecutor Mladen) Bajic dare issue six indictments against me," he said, reiterating that the only reason why he had resigned was blackmail over the border with Slovenia.

Sanader accused Kosor of initiating prosecution against him for fear that he would return to politics, noting that as a result their party, the HDZ, also ended up in the dock.

Sanader and the other defendants in the case are accused of siphoning about 70 million kuna (nearly 10 million euros) from state institutions and companies through the Fimi Media marketing agency into the HDZ's slush fund. Only Sanader and former government spokesman Ratko Macek insist that they are victims of political prosecution, while the other accused, former customs chief and HDZ treasurer Mladen Barisic, Fimi Media owner Nevenka Jurak and former HDZ chief accountant Branka Pavosevic, have pleaded guilty.