Detention for Pavlek and suspects in HSS money laundering

At the request of USKOK, the investigating judge of the Zagreb County Court ordered a one-month detention for the former president of the Croatian Ski Association (HSS) Vedran Pavlek and four others out of a total of six suspects in the laundering of almost 30 million euros from HSS.

As the court learned, Vedran Pavlek, who is in Turkey, was ordered to be detained for escape, then for the risk of influencing witnesses and the risk of repeating the criminal offense. USKOK prosecutor Tonći Petković confirmed that Pavlek is on the run and that the prosecution, after receiving the decision on detention, will initiate an arrest warrant and take steps to bring him to Croatia as a defendant in these proceedings.

"We now have to obtain a decision on the order of pre-trial detention and after that an arrest warrant will be issued against him and certain actions will be taken to bring him to the Republic of Croatia so that he can be present here as a defendant in this criminal proceeding in connection with which a decision on the conduct of the investigation was issued today," said Petković.

However, Pavlek's lawyer Laura Valković said that she believes there was no basis for ordering detention for her client, emphasizing that the fact that he is outside Croatia does not mean that he is on the run: "Mr. Pavlek is not on the run. The fact that he is not on the territory of Croatia. The fact is that the Croatian judicial bodies began to take action yesterday, the fact is that he knew nothing about it. Therefore, it is difficult to conclude that he is on the run. The danger of influencing witnesses also does not exist in our view because he did not in any way try or contact any of the witnesses, and likewise, there is no danger of repeating the criminal offense, he no longer holds any position."

In addition to Pavlek, pretrial detention was also ordered for former HSS Secretary General Damir Raos, director of an accounting firm that worked for HSS Božena Meić Hrvoj, Slovak citizen Martina Strezenicki, and Austrian and Liechtenstein citizen Georg Mauser, who is not available to Croatian justice.

USKOK previously reported that it did not request detention for former HSS spokesperson Nenad Eror, who was released to defend himself from freedom after being questioned by USKOK on Thursday.

Interior Minister Davor Božinović commented on the case on Friday: "All measures that are taken in such situations are being taken, including cooperation in terms of international police and between the justice ministries."

Source: HRT