"Ivo Sanader stated his defence and did not answer questions for the same reasons he has not answered them before. He stated his defence briefly," counsel Cedo Prodanovic said after the deposition at Remetinec prison.

He added that Sanader "denied the charges against him" and that he "referred to his previous defence, which lasted much longer, because the charges are essentially the same, only now they are a bit more detailed."

Asked if USKOK had completed its mosaic and puzzle, Prodanovic said "USKOK's mosaics are full of missing pieces"

Asked if Sanader shifted responsibility onto someone else, he said Sanader only denied the charges.

USKOK recently expanded its investigation to the Fimi Media case on suspicion that this advertising agency was used to siphon money from state companies and ministries and that part of it ended up in HDZ slush funds to finance the party's election campaigns, among other things.

Apart from Sanader, the other suspects in the case include the agency's owner, Nevenka Jurak, former HDZ accountant Branka Pavosevic, former HDZ secretary general Ivan Jarnjak, former HDZ and government spokesman Ratko Macek, and the party itself.

The investigation was launched 18 months ago. There are 19 suspects, plus the HDZ as a legal person. Because of this, a temporary injunction has been issued to prohibit the party from selling its building in downtown Zagreb so that the state could collect damages in case the party was found guilty. The party has filed a complaint at the Supreme Court, asking that the injunction be lifted.

Sanader recently went on trial at the Zagreb County Court for war profiteering and for taking a EUR 10 million bribe to give the Hungarian oil company MOL the dominant position in Croatia's INA.