The Supreme Court upheld the sentence on November 10, but published thedecision on its website on Monday.

A panel of judges presided by Miroslav Sovanj dismissed as groundless theappeal by the prosecution, which asked for a higher prison sentence, and theappeal by the defendant, who asked for an acquittal or a retrial.

The penalty envisaged for the felony for which Zagorec was sentenced rangesfrom one to 10 years' imprisonment.

Zagorec's attorney Zvonimir Hodak told Hina this was a disgraceful decisionover which they would file a suit at the Constitutional Court and, ifnecessary, the European Court of Human Rights.

Hodak said the Supreme Court decision set a precedent, as Zagorec wasconvicted without one piece of physical evidence and on the basis oftestimonies by compromising witnesses.

Hodak said the existence of the jewels was not proven at the trial and thatthe main witnesses -- Hrvoje Petrac, Snjezana Siprak and Terezija Barbaric --falsely accused his client for personal reasons.

The Supreme Court concluded that Zagorec did abuse office by personallycollecting jewels which German arms dealer Josef Rothaichner brought him in1993 as downpayment for US$ 5 million which the Croatian Defence Ministry gavehim for an arms purchase, but Zagorec did not return the jewels in 2000, whichhe was obliged to do, as he was leaving office as assistant defence minister incharge of arms and equipment procurement.

The Supreme Court dismissed the defence argument that the statute oflimitations had set in when the sentence was handed down in March 2009.

The defence tried to justify the failure to record the collection of thejewels with the fact that Zagorec was procuring arms for Croatia under a UNembargo, when such procurement was carried out without complete and legaldocumentation.

Although the jewels have not been found, the Supreme Court concluded theywere in the defendant's safe and that he took them as he was leaving theDefence Ministry.

Regarding the defence argument that the trial court sentence was based onfalse testimonies which witnesses had given in other trials, the Supreme Courtsaid it was unable to compare such statements and that this did not rule outthe possibility of the defendant pressing charges against those witnesses.

The Supreme Court upheld the trial court's conclusion that the testimoniesof Siprak, Barbaric and Petrac essentially coincided and complemented eachother.

Zagorec is currently in custody and on trial for an unlawful renovation of asummer house of former Zagreb City Assembly vice president Antun Sporer.