Croatia Issues Arrest Warrant for Dinamo Chiefs

Croatian Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic told a TV show on Thursday that an internal arrest warrant had been issued for senior officials of the Zagreb football club Dinamo.

The main man in question, Zdravko Mamic, via a video link to the same TV show, called the minister a liar and said he was a victim of a political plot.

A police unit from the Office for suppression of corruption and organized crime, USKOK, searched the homes and offices of Dinamo's executive director, Zdravko Mamic, club manager Zoran Mamic and former director Damir Vrbanovic on Thursday.

The Mamic brothers and Vrbanovic, all currently abroad with the team, are suspected of using the famous football club for tax evasion, bribery and other corrupt activities. An unindentified tax administration official is also under investigation.

Ostojic told the TV show that police twice called Zdravko Mamic in Slovenia, where Dinamo is preparing for the upcoming season, but he had refused to come back for interrogation.

"Mamic explicitly refused to come," the minister stated, adding that an internal arrest warrant had there been issued.

The state attorney now has to decide if a European arrest warrant will be issued, which would trigger the extradition of the Mamic brothers from Slovenia.

Mamic, also present on the same TV show via a video link from Slovenia, accused Ostojic of lying.

He said he had had no contact with the police during the searches of his house, and nobody from the police had called him, demanding his return to Croatia.

"You lie! You are an ordinary liar," he shouted at Ostojic, receiving a warning from the TV host.

He also claimed that he was a victim of political intrigues from those he called "communists", pointing to the centre...