Bandić released from Remetinec, 15 million kuna returned to him

The Croatian Constitutional Court has lifted the pre-trial detention of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić, who was returned to Remetinec prison on March 10, following an expansion of the investigation in the Agram case.

By accepting Bandić's constitutional complaint, the Constitutional Court overturned three decisions of the Zagreb County Court made in March this year.

With this decision, Bandić is released and 15 million kuna are returned to him.

The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime (USKOK) requested on Wednesday that Bandić remain 'behind bars', and the investigating judge of the Zagreb County Court postponed the hearing on Thursday, at which he was to decide on this proposal, precisely after the information that the Constitutional Court had decided on Bandić's constitutional complaint.

In the Agram affair, Bandić was initially suspected of damaging the city he managed for 12 years, but also of defrauding the state budget by not paying taxes on donations received in the 2010 presidential campaign. The prosecution estimates the total damage at around 20 million kuna.