HDZ lawyer Vladimir Gredelj told the press he knew nothing about this, saying there was no reason to be dramatic about it because the party's property could be blocked only in the form of registration on the building with the party's offices pending completion of an investigation into slush funds.

"That doesn't mean that the HDZ would in any way be limited in managing that property or using it as it has done until now," Gredelj said, agreeing that the HDZ could not sell the property.

"What the opponents, not to say the enemies, of the HDZ want most, that the HDZ's accounts be frozen, I as an attorney don't expect because there are no legal prerequisites for it."

A confirmation of the news about the party's property being blocked could not be obtained from Zagreb County Court spokesman Kresimir Devcic or the spokesman of the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime, Vuk Djuricic, who did not answer phone calls.

State Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Martina Mihordin said the information could be confirmed only by the Zagreb County Court. She would not say if the prosecutor had asked the court to block the property.

The corruption probe in the Fimi Media case, expanded recently to the HDZ as a legal entity, was launched 18 months ago. There are 17 suspects so far. The media speculate that it has recently been expanded to several former party members and officials. If suspicion about a slush fund is proven to be correct, the party could be fined with eight million kuna.

By blocking the party's property, the creditor, in this case the state, financially covers itself pending completion of the probe or the trial against the party for a series of corruption cases in which about HRK 32 million were syphoned from state companies and institutions, the HTV said.