Fimi Media trial defence counsel: Ruling doesn't change anything, we will appeal

NEWS 13.11.202019:10
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Ivo Sanader's defence counsel in the Fimi Media trial on Friday said that the latest conviction doesn't change anything and that they are still unsatisfied because the major part of the sentence is based on "unconfronted evidence" which has already been disputed by the Supreme Court.

Jadranka Slokovic and Cedo Prodanovic told reporters that the ruling need to be legal and just in order to strengthen citizens’ trust in the judiciary, however this one is not.

Slokovic added that the situation was such that regardless of the fact that a significant portion of the charge of alleged gain of €2 million had been dropped, Sanader was de facto given the same sentence as a decade ago.

“The ruling is largely based on unconfronted evidence. Everything that was said by (Nevenka) Jurak and (Drazen) Barisic, which is why Sanader was tried, was once again unconfronted, hence nothing was corrected. There is no supporting evidence in that regard,” said Slokovic.

She underlined that in the initial trial, whose conviction was later quashed by the Supreme Court, Sanader was not tried for the disproportion of assets but for illegal gain of assets. “Now in fact, the assets that were not confiscated on the grounds of illegal gain have been confiscated on the basis that they are disproportionate. The court’s conclusion is absolutely wrong,” added Slokovic.

“We do not agree with this reasoning and are truly surprised with the gravity of the sentence,” she said, adding that Sanader should have been tried in a single trial for all the charges against him.

Prodanovic: We will appeal

Prodanovic said that at first glance it appears that the court has been inconsistent with regard to Barisic’s testimony. On the one hand because it was unconfronted and secondly because Sanader was not tried for allegedly receiving HRK 15.2 million, and also he was not tried for allegedly accepting money from entertainers, which means the court did not believe Barisic.

He added that at no time was the origin of Barisic’s assets investigated and he may have in fact accepted the bribe. That remains an enigma, said Prodanovic.

Former PM and HDZ leader Ivo Sanader has been sentenced to 8 years in prison in the Fimi Media case, former HDZ treasurer Mladen Barisic and accountant Branka Pavosevic have also been sentenced to prison, while the HDZ party has been fined HRK 3.5 million and ordered to pay HRK 14.6 million into the state budget.

HDZ defence counsel satisfied with reduced amount HDZ tried for

HDZ defence counsel Davorin Budin said that he was partly satisfied with the sentence because the trial started in 2011 with charges amounting to HRK 31.6 million, to be reduced to HRK 30 million in 2014 and then reduced again to HRK 24 million in the initial sentence, and today HDZ has been held responsible for HRK 14.5 million.

He added that he cannot be entirely satisfied as they had pleaded not guilty from the very start.

Budin claimed that Sanader acted in his capacity as prime minister and that this has nothing to do with the HDZ itself, adding that he had proven that during the trial with the fact that the meeting concluding the deal with Fimi Media was held in the government and not the party’s premises.

He added that there are five acquittals pending appeal related to the assessment of the legality of Fimi Media’s business deals with public companies.

Now that same cooperation has been declared illegal, yet we have four acquittals for the same matter at the same court, he said.

He concluded that HDZ would again appeal this sentence and by that time the amount HDZ is being charged for might be decreased to almost nil.