More than 30 police officers on Wednesday searched the Salzburg prison in which former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader is in extradition custody, but the warden said the search had nothing to do with Sanader.
i"This is a routine check that was planned for a long time," warden Dietmar Knebel was quoted by the Krone Zeitung in Thursday's issue.
The newspaper said attorneys did not know about the search until yesterday, when they wanted to enter the building, which houses the Salzburg judiciary, and found a note saying visits were not possible.
"Since early morning, more than 30 police officers, mainly from other prisons, have been searching not only every cell, but the entire building complex. The kitchen, workshops, all rooms. Something can be hidden anywhere," Knebel was quoted as saying.
He denied that the search had anything to do with Sanader, saying the date of the search "was set when we didn't even know that Sanader would come to us."
Knebel was satisfied with the outcome of the raid, saying nothing significant was found.
Asked how photos of Sanader in his prison cell could have ended up in Croatian media, he said he did not know.
When the pictures first appeared, Knebel dismissed the possibility that Sanader was photographed by a prison employee, but said the prisoners could not have done it either, as they did not have mobile phones or other electronic equipment. He said visitors met prisoners in visiting room, while lawyers met their clients in a guarded room.
"Maybe somebody wanted to make money. One Croatian journalist told me that he was offered photographs of Sanader for 200 euros," Knebel was quoted as saying.
