ZAGREB – Croatia’s former prime minister Ivo Sanader left the country as state prosecutors moved yesterday to detain him in connection with corruption investigations, media and parliament officials said.
Arsen Bauk, vice-chairman of parliament’s immunity commission and member of the opposition Social Democrats, said the state prosecutor’s office had asked parliament to lift his immunity from prosecution and wanted to detain him. “The request for lifting Sanader’s immunity has arrived, after which the relevant court will decide on his possible detention,” Mr Bauk said.
State news agency Hina, quoting police sources, said Mr Sanader had crossed the border with EU member Slovenia. Other media said he had citizenship of Austria, where he had lived and worked in the 1990s.
Croatia hopes to conclude European Union entry talks next year but before that has to convince Brussels of its determination to stamp out corruption.
Romania and Bulgaria, both of which joined the EU in 2007 after the bloc urged them to step up their fight against corruption, have also tried to prosecute former prime ministers.
Romania indicted its former prime minister Adrian Nastase on corruption charges but the court process has been slow. Bulgaria charged former premier Sergei Stanishev in 2009 with mishandling classified reports.
In Croatia, anti-corruption investigations are focusing on officials from the ruling HDZ party of Sanader’s era.
Mr Sanader unexpectedly and without explanation stepped down as prime minister in July 2009 and was expelled from the HDZ in January. In September, police arrested chief of the national customs service Mladen Barisic, who was a close friend of Mr Sanader and party treasurer for the HDZ. Croatian media said he had implicated Mr Sanader in his testimonies. Since Mr Sanader’s former deputy Jadranka Kosor took over the government last year, a dozen managers of banks and state companies have been arrested for corruption, but in most cases indictments are pending. – (Reuters)