Ivo Sanader becomes head of prison bookstore

(Patria) - Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has become the head of the bookstore at Lipovica prison, it was confirmed for Dnevnik Nove TV.

Sanader is not an employee, but remains an inmate - responsible for the cultural development of other inmates. He was transferred from Remetinec to Lipovica, and now his defense hopes this is the first step towards freedom.

Sanader is no longer in Remetinec due to exemplary behavior and deteriorating health.

- Mr. Sanader has been in the Lipovica Penitentiary for a few months. It is a semi-open prison system, and he is now in significantly better prison conditions than before - explained his lawyer Čedo Prodanović.

Around 80 convicts are serving their sentences in Lipovica, staying in rooms that are on average 20 square meters in size, and the former prime minister shares his with a roommate.

Inmates have constant medical care - a doctor and two nurses - and numerous other benefits.

- It is essentially a prison that is not a prison. During the day, they walk freely around the complex, have coffee, receive visitors. It's a prison tailored to people - says Prodanović.

Inmates cook for themselves under the supervision of a vocational teacher. The penitentiary has a gym, but also a bookstore, which Sanader has recently been in charge of.

- I visited him once. He wasn't doing it then, but it's clear that he is responsible for taking care of the cultural development of the inmates there - emphasized Prodanović.

According to him, Sanader never lost hope, even though he spent almost a decade behind bars.

- He is strong, he endured much harsher conditions, so he has no problems now. Of course, he follows politics, but we haven't dealt too much with politics - states Prodanović.

With a consolidated sentence for the Fimi Media, Planinska, and INA-MOL affairs, Sanader must spend a total of 18 years behind bars. Five proceedings were conducted against him, of which he was definitively acquitted in two.

The reporter for Dnevnik Nove TV, Ivan Čorkalo, reported on the new conditions in which the former prime minister lives.

- Relocation to such a semi-open type of prison is a kind of preparation for release. Inmates have the freedom to spend eight hours outside the penitentiary in the town itself.

If the inmate respects all conditions during their outings, they then gain the right to go home for the weekend. There is no doubt that Ivo Sanader, given his exemplary conduct, will very soon gain this right, so we could see him in Zagreb for the weekend relatively soon.

In the Croatian prison system, this is most often approved after two-thirds of the sentence, and can be requested after serving half of the sentence, a condition Sanader will meet in the middle of this year.

Sanader's legal team has also filed a constitutional appeal due to the consolidated sentence of 18 years, which they consider too high because it was issued at a time when the court was unaware of certain circumstances related to his health.

If the appeal is successful, he could be released much earlier than he himself expected - explained Čorkalo.