Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has no objections to his Austrian detention, but is worried about the Croatian authorities' treatment of his family, his Austrian attorney Werner Suppan told reporters on Monday after a hearing before a Salzburg court.
Sanader is doing fine in custody, "but is worried about the Croatian authorities' treatment of his wife and daughters. Their documents were seized without grounds and they were temporarily prevented from entering their own house. His wife's bank account has been frozen," Suppan said, according to the Austrian news agency APA.
Sanader was arrested in Austria on December 10 on a warrant issued by Croatia. He was remanded in custody for one month today at a hearing chaired by Judge Carina Habringer. The court refused to release him so that he would not flee and hide evidence.
Prosecution spokeswoman Barbara Feichtinger said the next hearing on Croatia's plea for Sanader's extradition should be held on January 27. The Salzburg court will discuss the plea behind closed doors in two to three weeks' time.
Suppan underlined that there was no possibility of Sanader seeking political asylum in Austria.
At his attorneys' advice, Sanader today did not take a position on Croatia's extradition plea. The plea has been delivered to him, "so he has enough time to study it," Feichtinger told press.
If the investigating judge in Salzburg decides that Sanader can be extradited to Croatia, he can appeal the decision at a higher court in Linz. If this court upholds the extradition, Sanader can be turned over to Croatia in a short time, APA said, adding that the former PM could decide at any moment that he wanted a fast-track extradition, in which case the case would be delivered to the justice ministry in Vienna, which decides on the extradition.
The office of the Austrian prosecutor for corruption last Thursday deposed Sanader in an investigation launched into him in Austria in the wake of a Tyrolean bank's accusations against him for money laundering. Sanader denied any involvement.
If Sanader is indicted in Austria in that case, that will delay the extradition to Croatia, as the Austrian case will become a priority and have to be solved before the extradition.
Suppan refuted rumours in Austria's media and business circles about Sanader's business ties with Rahat Aliev, a former Kazakh ambassador to Austria.
