Croatia Strips MPs of Immunity Following Anti-Corruption Operation

The Croatian parliament stripped three MPs of immunity from prosecution on Friday, approving the initiation of criminal proceedings, deprivation of liberty and pre-trial detention for two MPs and a continued trial for the third.

Two MPs, Drazen Barisic, from the ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, and Vinko Grgic, from the opposition centre-left Social Democratic Party, SDP, who are also mayors, are suspects in a corruption affair that was in the focus of Thursday's anti-corruption operation undertaken by the Croatian police and the Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organized Crime, USKOK.

The third MP, Darko Puljasic, from the HDZ, also a mayor, is connected with another affair. The request to strip his immunity is for the purpose of continuing criminal proceedings dating from 2018, when Puljasic - accused of forgery of a business document and of fraud amounting to a million kunas - was not a member of parliament.

On Thursday, USKOK said it had launched an investigation into 11 persons suspected of influence peddling, bribery, illicit preferential treatment and aiding and abetting these crimes; for the official start of the investigation into the two MPs, removal of their immunity was required.

Among those arrested on Thursday was the head of the management board of the JANAF oil pipeline company, Dragan Kovacevic, who is suspected of receiving 1.9 million kunas, about 253,244 euros, in bribes from Kreso Petek, CEO of Eletrocentar Petek company, which landed deal from JANAF worth 40 million kunas, or 5.3 million euros.

Petek is the first suspect in the investigation, while Kovacevic is the second. MPs Barisic and Grgic are suspected of having favoured Petek's company in the public tender procedure.