Former prime minister and former Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Ivo Sanader on Monday shifted all responsibility for the financing of the HDZ to Ivan Jarnjak, who was the party's secretary-general at the time relevant for the indictment against Sanader in the case dubbed Fimi Media.
Earlier today, Sanader started presenting his defence and at the end of today's four-hour presentation Sanader said that "the secretary-general ran all financial businesses of the party. He was in charge of the functioning of the party. He signed the bills and financial plans," Sanader said adding that also treasurer and book-keepers assisted Jarnjak in that work.
Sanader said that the indictment was based on ridiculous accusations.
Sanader and the other defendants in the case are accused of siphoning about 70 million kuna (nearly 10 million euros) from state institutions and companies through the Fimi Media marketing agency into the HDZ's slush fund. Only Sanader and former government spokesman Ratko Macek insist that they are victims of political prosecution, while the other accused, former customs chief and HDZ treasurer Mladen Barisic, Fimi Media owner Nevenka Jurak and former HDZ chief accountant Branka Pavosevic, have pleaded guilty.
