Ivan Jarnjak, a member of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) presidency and the party's former secretary-general, was questioned by investigators of the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) as a suspect in an investigation launched in this political party as a legal entity over the alleged slush funds, and he presented his defence, Jarnjak's lawyer, Petar Pavkovic told reporters after his client spent more than four hours in the USKOK headquarters in Zagreb on Wednesday.
Leaving the USKOK offices, Jarnjak declined to answer questions from the press, citing the confidentiality of the ongoing investigation.
His lawyer Pavkovic said however, that they had answered all questions at the interview and that they had referred the investigators to relevant evidence.
The questioning of former government and HDZ spokesman Ratko Macek was in progress after Jarnak's interview.
According to the media, USKOK suspects Jarnjak, as a responsible person in the HDZ party, of having helped the influx of money in the party slush funds which allegedly financed election campaigns, among other things.
This is an investigation in the Fimi Media case, which USKOK recently extended to include the HDZ party as a legal entity and Jarnjak, Macek, former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, former HDZ treasurer Mladen Barisic and former HDZ accountant Branka Pavosevic.
The media speculate that Macek is suspected of having headed the operation of settling debts incurred by the purchase of Osijek Television equipment and the purchase of the Zadar-based Hrvatski List weekly.
