The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) has launched an investigation into five people suspected of trying to influence the Supreme Court verdict against Branimir Glavas, sentenced for war crimes by a lower court.
Citing only the suspects' age, USKOK said on its web site that five people (aged 49, 42, 48, 44 and 38) were charged with conspiracy and with falsely reporting a criminal act to the police.
USKOK believes that the first suspect, being aware that the Supreme Court was considering Glavas's appeal, conspired with the other four people in Zagreb and Osijek in June and July this year so that they could secure a more favourable verdict for Glavas.
USKOK alleges that the group tried to do this by finding people who could be bribed into influencing Supreme Court judges or offering them bribes in exchange for a favourable verdict for Glavas.
The first and the second suspect contacted a number of persons to that end, inquiring about the case.
Collecting money that was to have been given to as yet unknown persons so that they could influence the verdict, the first suspect on July 15 received from a Zagreb businessman 50,000 euros. Following instructions from the first suspect, the second suspect took over the money on the same day in order to give it to an unidentified person.
The first suspect gave instructions, which were conveyed by the third suspect, to organise a meeting in a Zagreb cafe on July 21, at which the second suspect requested the fourth and the fifth suspect to collect 70,000 euros in two days.
USKOK alleges that they each collected 35,000 euros. The money was picked up on July 23 by the second suspect, who two days later was to have given the money to an as yet unidentified person to secure a favourable ruling for Glavas.
However, the money did not change hands because the fourth and the fifth suspect on July 24 told other members of the group that they were aborting all further action.
In order to avoid criminal liability, the two reported, on the same day, an unknown person to the Osijek County police for trying to defraud them.
USKOK alleges that they falsely stated in the report that they gave the money to an unidentified person who kept it, and that they actually gave the 70,000 euros to the second suspect for the purpose that had been previously agreed.
The Osijek police on October 1 arrested five people on the suspicion that they conspired to influence the Supreme Court verdict in the case against Branimir Glavas. Police Director Oliver Grbic said on the following day that 12-15 people had been directly or indirectly involved in the case.
On the same day, the police brought in for questioning a parliamentary deputy from the regional HDSSB party, Ivan Drmic, and the deputy editor-in-chief of the Glas Slavonije daily, Sanja Marketic.
The manager of the Osijek Koteks company, Drago Tadic, was also brought in for questioning and his flat was searched in a police investigation into the attempt to influence the verdict against Glavas.
After being interviewed by the police, Drmic told reporters that he gave the investigators additional information regarding a report he had filed against unidentified perpetrators following media reports about the case.
The Supreme Court on July 30 published a final verdict in the case against Branimir Glavas, sentencing him to eight years in prison for war crimes against Serb civilians in Osijek in 1991.
