Court rejects appeals of Bandić's lawyers

The investigating judge of the Zagreb County Court rejected the appeals of the lawyers of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić against the latest expansion of the investigation in the Agram affair, for which Bandić ended up in the Remetinec investigation prison, reports the Patria News Agency.

The rejection of the appeals by Bandić's lawyers means that the decision on the expansion of the investigation has become final and that the USKOK (Bureau for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime) can proceed with evidentiary actions, said the spokesperson for the Zagreb County Court, Krešimir Devčić.

The investigation against Bandić was expanded after the president of the management board of the Zagreb Foundation for the Assistance of Persons Suffering from Cerebrovascular Diseases, Vida Demarin, told investigators that Bandić had persuaded her twice to change her statement and sign a document containing false information.

The prosecution also suspects that Bandić, during December 2014 and January 2015, as the founder and president of the Foundation, drafted and signed a backdated document, in which he falsely stated that all paintings and sculptures donated to the Foundation were stored and kept at the addresses where they were found during searches, even though the artworks were not donated to the Foundation but were his.