Former Chief State Inspector remanded to investigative custody

The Zagreb County Court remanded former Chief State Inspector and his close friend to pre-trial detention on Saturday, due to the risk of witness tampering. They are facing corruption charges. Two other suspects in the case have been released pending trial.

The USKOK anti-corruption agency is charging former Chief State Inspector Andrija Mikulić and his best man, Dragan Krasić, with giving and receiving bribes. According to the deputy director of the USKOK anti-corruption agency, Vedran Libl, the investigating judge at the Zagreb County Court, upheld USKOK’s motion for investigative custody in full: "The court accepted USKOK's motion in full, and set investigative custody against the two suspects due to concerns of witness tampering. We will be questioning 22 witnesses for whom we believe there is a danger of collusion."

For Mikulić's lawyer, Ivan Stanić, there were no grounds for investigative custody. However, he did not announce plans to appeal the decision: "The defense is of the opinion that there was no need for investigative custody, but it is what it is, we're moving on."

Commenting on the Mikulić arrest today, SDP MP Sabina Glasovac said that corruption has permeated Croatian society from top to bottom, and that this has been enabled by the political leadership: "It is very dangerous when the corruption that has overwhelmed our entire society reaches our institutions and when those monitoring and protecting the law become a threat to legality. Then the problem is no longer in these individuals, but in those who have protected them for years. Those who have enabled them with their sophisticated protection network."

Meanwhile, Most MP Ante Kujundžić also commented on the case, saying that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was aware of the ongoing corruption, and that his sudden decision to dismiss Mikulić together with a number of heads of state-owned companies is little more than damage control: "If he had dismissed Mikulić alone it would have been too obvious, so he shuffled off an entire slew of functionaries under the guise of 'well their mandate is expiring.' But if they could work for the past five years, logic would suggest that you let them finish out the final three months of their mandate. But he needed to do some damage control. The fact is that he knew that something was afoot, and that's why he did what he did."

And while Prime Minister and HDZ party president Andrej Plenković did not directly address the Mikulić arrest on Saturday, he did allude to it during an address to the party's Veterans' Association: "Those who take their position for granted. Those who have held a position for a long time and deviate from lawful behavior must be held accountable. No one was entrusted with or given a mandate for unlawful behavior. And no one will save them. I say this because of the circumstances that emerged this week that are unrelated to the budget. Everyone must know this. Whoever they are. There is no one who will save them. But everyone who is entrusted with a mandate must think of your sacrifice, the law, and ethics and know that their mistakes bring shame to everyone."

Source: HRT