Ivo Sanader to be released from prison upon payment of bail

The Supreme Court has annulled the first-instance verdict against former Prime Minister and HDZ president Ivo Sanader, who will be released if he pays bail in the amount of 12.4 million kuna.

– The verdict has been annulled, the investigative detention in the Fimi media case has been extended due to the risk of flight, and replaced with a bail of 12.4 million kuna – said the spokesperson of the Zagreb County Court, Krešimir Devčić.

The Supreme Court made this decision after a three-day consideration of the appeals of the defendants and Uskok in the corruption case Fimi media, in which Sanader was provisionally sentenced to nine years in prison and the return of illegally acquired 15.27 million kuna.

The former Prime Minister is currently in prison in Remetinec solely based on the verdict in this case, namely the so-called mandatory detention that must be imposed by law on defendants who have been sentenced to a provisional prison sentence longer than five years.

It is not yet known what position the Supreme Court has taken regarding the appeals of the other defendants, including the HDZ, which was fined five million kuna as a legal entity in the first-instance proceedings and had illegal benefits of 24.2 million kuna confiscated. The complete decision will only be known after the Supreme Court publishes a written explanation, which may take months.

In the first-instance verdict, along with Sanader and HDZ, the former party treasurer Mladen Barišić was also found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. Former HDZ treasurer Branka Pavošević was sentenced to one and a half years, while the owner of the Fimi media agency, Nevenka Jurak, received a two-year prison sentence and the confiscation of 2.5 million kuna in property benefits.

Former Sanader’s spokesperson Ratko Maček received a conditional sentence and was the only one who did not appeal the verdict.

Sanader, who shortly after leaving the prime ministerial position on July 1, 2009, became the target of Uskok due to numerous scandals, has not been convicted in any case since the Constitutional Court annulled the verdict in the Hypo and Ina-MOL case, which was final. He is still on trial in the Planinska case, where he is accused of receiving a 17 million kuna “commission” after the Ministry of Regional Development purchased a building from the company of former HDZ parliamentary representative and owner of butcher shops Stjepan Fiolić.

From now on, if he pays bail, Sanader will defend himself from freedom in all ongoing proceedings.