Former Croatian prime minister and former president of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) Ivo Sanader said on Thursday the HDZ was not a party of thieves and that speculations about a possible deal between the party and the anti-corruption agency USKOK were a spin, as were media reports that he had asked the new HDZ chief Tomislav Karamarko not to strike a deal with USKOK.
"I claim that both the HDZ and I are innocent and spins placed in the media are aimed at stirring uneasiness with the defence before the presentation of evidence and increasing the State Prosecutor's Office's success rate," Sanader told reporters during a recess of his trial in the cases Hypo and INA-MOL, when asked to comment on speculations that the HDZ would plead guilty in the Fimi Media case and be held responsible for the damage worth HRK32 million and then sue Sanader and ask for the money back.
"The HDZ is not a party of thieves, but a party that created Croatia. The HDZ will decide what it will decide, but I resolutely claim that this isn't true and that the HDZ is telling the truth when it says that it's not guilty," Sanader said, refuting media claims that he had sent text messages to the new HDZ chief Karamarko asking him not to strike a deal with USKOK.
"Of course not. That's a spin. We have not communicated. I presented my defence in court, as did the HDZ," Sanader said.
His defence lawyer Jadranka Slokovic said a deal between the HDZ and USKOK was not possible at the present stage of the trial.
Some of the media have speculated that the HDZ will plead guilty and make a deal with USKOK.
