The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal by former Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polancec, upholding the suspended sentence of one year in prison with four years' probation for financial wrongdoing relating to the installation of floodlights at the football ground in his native village of Djelekovci.
Although Polancec had pleaded guilty to the charge of unlawful intermediation for spending HRK 230,000 on the floodlights for the Osvit Football Club, he requested a reduction of the suspended sentence by five months because he disagreed with the part of the judgement that found him guilty of incitement to falsify an official document because he had encouraged the contractor to make out an invoice to the club after the installation of the floodlights.
The defence argued that this was not a crime because the contractor was required under the law to make out an invoice for the work done. The Supreme Court, however, concluded that the sole purpose of the invoice, made out a year and a half after the work was paid for, was to cover up the crime of unlawful intermediation.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court will decide on Polancec's appeal in the case of commissioning an unnecessary study from Vukovar lawyer Petar Miletic, for which he has been sentenced to three years and three months in prison.
Polancec is also on trial, along with former executives of Podravka and their business partners, for allegedly defrauding the Koprivnica-based food company of HRK 400 million.
