Turudić presents his annual report to parliament

Chief State Prosecutor Ivan Turudić presented his three hundred page report on the work of state attorneys' offices in Parliament on Wednesday. In his report, he noted that the public prosecutor's office is currently working to resolve a number of outstanding cases under urgent procedure, while at the same time it is bolstering personnel shortages within the institution.

Chief State Prosecutor Ivan Turudić told MPs that it was concerning that in their criticism of the work of the State Attorney's Office opposition MPs ignored successful operations, such as the recent collaboration with the American Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA): “We confiscated roughly 800kg of cocaine and a large amount of other kinds of drugs, and no one, but no one noted this a worthy achievement.”

However, the opposition accused him of close ties with the HDZ and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. Dalija Orešković from DoSiP: “Croatia is currently being held hostage to one political party that conducts all processes, and unfortunately the work of the Chief State Prosecutor is no different.”

Turudić however, rejected this assessment: “When a State Prosecutor or judge, or any other functionary is appointed, they emancipate themselves from those who appointed them. They do not remain their lackey. I definitely am not anyone's lackey or puppet.”

The opposition also criticized Turudić for his relations with the European Public Prosecutor's Office. MOST MP Nikola Grmoja accused that Chief State Prosecutor of dragging his feet in the corruption cases against former HDZ EU Funds and Regional Development Minister Gabrijela Žalac until the EPPO intervened, while SDP MP Sabina Glasovac accused Turudić of wrongfully applying jurisdiction in former HDZ Health Minister Vili Beroš's corruption case, effectively pulling it from the EPPO's grasp: “We didn't take anything from the EPPO, as Chief State Prosecutor I made a decision on a conflict of authority, just as the chief state prosecutors of seventeen other EU member states do.”

In spite of the accusations and criticisms from the opposition, Turudić can calmly await the vote on his report as he can count on the support of the coalition government's majority in parliament. This includes junior partners, the Homeland Movement, who had initially been highly critical of the State Attorney's Office.

Source: HRT