Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader sentenced to six years in prison

A Croatian court has sentenced former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader to six years in prison for accepting a bribe of several million dollars during his time in office. The court found Sanader guilty because according to the indictment, he received 10m euros in bribes from the Hungarian oil company MOL.

The Hungarian company took control of 50 per cent of the Croatian gas company INA's ownership. The court also sentenced MOL's chief executive, Zsolt Hernadi, to two years in prison for bribery.

Herrnadi was not in court during the verdict's proclamation, and tribunal head Ivan Turudiq said a European Union warrant has been issued, as well as calling on Hungary to “it does in line with the” circumstances. Decisions can be appealed.

Sanader, 66, was prime minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009 and also served as leader of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union from 2000 to 2009. If the indictment takes a firm form, Sanader will pay the government 10m euros.

Sanader left Croatia in 2010 after he was charged in two cases of corruption. He was arrested in Austria and extradited to Croatia a year later.

This sentence was abolished by the Constitutional Court in 2015. Sanader was also sentenced to 2-and-a-half years in 2018 for profit from the war and was ordered to pay about $570,000 in bribes he had received from Hypo Bank. He is currently in prison serving that sentence.