Statements given by former Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) treasurer Mladen Barisic to the anti-corruption agency USKOK in late 2010 and in 2011, which were read out and examined at the Zagreb County Court on Tuesday, show that Barisic, even at the time when he was state secretary and director of the Customs Administration, served as a "postman" to former prime minister and HDZ leader Ivo Sanader because he took to Sanader, often to his home, millions of kuna siphoned from state institutions and public companies.
Three statements given by Barisic during the investigation and two recordings of his statements, examined today by the court, show that apart from private purposes, the illegally gained money was used to finance election campaigns, buy media, pay European lobbyists, and buy works of art as presents or even clothing for government clerks.
Apart from Sanader and other accused in this case, dubbed Fimi Media, Barisic also mentions in his statements, in the context of takeover of the illegally collected money, the current HDZ leadership - president Jadranka Kosor and secretary-general Branko Bacic.
As confirmed by Barisic in one of his statements given to investigators, after Sanader resigned as Prime Minister, Barisic was to have taken to Kosor and Bacic, on Sanader's orders, a total of 300,000 euros and two million kuna to be used for purposes of a presidential campaign.
Sanader said at the time that it was necessary because an election victory required as much as two-thirds of the illegal money, according to Barisic.
Barisic said that Kosor and Bacic were not sure what to do with the money, refusing to take it for a longer period of time and acting as if they did not understand what he wanted them to do. Nevertheless, after some time Bacic allegedly phoned him and told him to give the money to Marica Glavas, who was in charge of party finances at the time.
In his statements to investigators, Barisic described in detail how he started working with Sanader, to whom he suggested doing business through the Fimi Media marketing agency owned by Nevenka Jurak since he was looking for alternative ways of financing the party. The HDZ had previously done business through the Max Media company whose director Franjo Maletic, according to Barisic, left the company with a debt worth millions of kuna.
Apart from admitting that he personally visited directors of public companies and demanded that they enter into business deals with Fimi Media, that is, give money for Sanader and the HDZ's slush fund, Barisic also described in detail how the HDZ "bought" the media with the illegally acquired money, through its former spokesman and government spokesman, Ratko Macek.
Barisic said Sanader decided to invest in the media so that the party could have more room in the media for promotion ahead of the 2007 parliamentary election. For that purpose, money was paid to settle debts of Osijek Television. Barisic said that he had also collected 415,000 euros which he gave Macek to buy the Zadarski List paper. A production company, Sljeme, was founded, with Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic as co-owner, to control the local TV station Z1, said Barisic.
The former HDZ official also said that he had used state money to buy for Sanader works of art in Zagreb galleries that Sanader previously selected together with Bozo Biskupic, Petar Selem and Mario Zubovic.
Barisic said that it was clear to everyone close to the authorities that Fimi Media "had to operate" and that Sanader did not tolerate disobedience, meaning that refusing to act on his orders could mean loss of one's position. Sanader's wishes simply had to be obeyed unquestioningly, said Barisic.
In his statements to investigators, Barisic also said that after he resigned as PM, Sanader no longer contacted him, "he no longer needed me and that hurt me."
