"Vienna-based attorney Werner Suppan informed us yesterday during our visit to the prison in Salzburg that according to some information that reached him, Sanader could be extradited next week, but there is no official confirmation," Suic told reporters, adding the defence did not know if the Austrian justice minister had signed the extradition decision and if Croatia and Austria had agreed the date and mode of extradition.

Suic said no one from the Austrian authorities had contacted Sanader, whose leg he said still hurt after he injured it working out in the prison gym.

Croatia's Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) last December launched several investigations into Sanader, which is why his transfer was requested. He was arrested in Austria that month.

Zagreb's County Court today refuted media allegations that Sanader would be tried by Judge Ivan Turudic and said that USKOK had still not indicted Sanader.

If an indictment is filed, it has to be confirmed by a panel of judges and only then is a judge assigned to the case, the court said.