Parliament Speaker Luka Bebic said on Tuesday his wish to participate in the collection of funds so that former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader could be released on bail had never been in question, as they were friends, adding that no one had reproached him for that, including his party, the ruling HDZ.
"My wish to participate in that, if the court grants (the bail motion), isn't in question," Bebic told reporters when asked about the HDZ's reactions to his decision.
The Zagreb County Court declined a bail motion yesterday.
Bebic said the law allowed for an accused to be released on bail pending and during trial. "If the court made such a decision, I would participate in it as a citizen and as a friend of Ivo Sanader's."
Regarding comments that, as the parliament speaker, he should not take part in the collection of bail money, Bebic said they were aimed at restricting his constitutional rights as a man and citizen.
"I am the parliament speaker, but no one can suspend any of my constitutional rights, particularly those who are saying that Ivo Sanader should end up in jail for political reasons."
Asked to comment on public criticism that, as the parliament speaker, he was humiliating everything the government and the State Prosecutor's Office were doing, Bebic responded by asking how someone could write that someone should stay in jail for political reasons.
"That doesn't worry you? Have I claimed that someone is innocent or righteous? ... Never! Neither publicly nor in any other way. However, nobody will decide who is my friend. A friend in need is a friend indeed, not when someone is in power and has 100 friends but actually has none," said Bebic.
