Ivo Sanader released on parole

(Patria) - Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was released on parole today after serving two-thirds of his 18-year prison sentence for multiple cases of corruption and abuse of office.

Out of a total of 18 years in prison, to which he was sentenced in the Fimi Media, Planinska, and Ina-MOL affairs, Sanader has served almost 11 years, and will be on parole for another seven years and about 15 days.

Sanader's lawyer Dragan Crnković stated that all legal conditions for his client's release have been met, HRT reported.

Sanader was sentenced to a unified prison term of 18 years for three cases: siphoning money from public companies in the "Fimi Media" case, soliciting and accepting bribes in the "Planinska" case, and transferring management rights of INA to Hungarian MOL in exchange for bribes.

Crnković said that in addition to Sanader's age, one of the reasons cited in the parole request was his health condition, but that these were not the primary reasons, but rather the fact that he met the conditions of the Criminal Code.

He added that the former prime minister served half of his sentence on August 15, 2023. He also stated that after his release from prison, Sanader will first be obliged to report to the police station in Zagreb, and then to the probation center.

According to his lawyer, Sanader will be obliged to report to the police every month and will not be allowed to change his residence.

He is formally under the jurisdiction of the County Court in Zagreb, from which he will have to seek permission to change his residence.

Early release in the Croatian prison system can be requested after serving half of the sentence, and is most often granted after serving two-thirds of the sentence.

Sanader, after several arrests and releases, had been continuously in prison since April 2019, when the Supreme Court increased his sentence for corruption in the "Planinska" case to six years in prison.

In that case, the former owner of the meat industry and member of his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, Stjepan Fiolić, admitted to giving the former prime minister ten million kuna (about 1.35 million euros) and one million euros in commission.

In mid-October 2021, the highest court partially confirmed the verdict from the retrial in the "Fimi Media" case, according to which HDZ must pay a fine of 3.5 million kuna (about 470,000 euros) for siphoning money from state institutions and companies, while Sanader's sentence was reduced from eight to seven years in prison, along with the return of illegally obtained benefits.

In October 2021, the Supreme Court confirmed the first-instance verdict by which Sanader was sentenced to six years for accepting bribes from the head of Hungarian MOL, Zsolt Hernádi, while the unavailable Hernádi was fined two years in prison.

In a series of long-standing proceedings, Sanader was acquitted in October last year in a retrial of charges of war profiteering in the "Hypo" affair, for which he had been convicted twice in previous proceedings.