I Am Not Curious About Zagorec But About The Money

Stjepan Mesic would like to know who managed the money on secret bank accounts abroad and how those transfers ended.

Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said in Zagreb on Wednesday that, since the retired General Vladimir Zagorec had been arrested, he was more curious about who had managed the money on the secret bank accounts abroad and how those transfers had ended. 

"I am not curious about this particular case, I am curious to see why the money went abroad, who it was who managed it, and how those transfers eventually ended. I am not interested in the individual in this case because the fraud occurred in the system. It was, therefore, a fraud that involved the presence of authorities," said the President in response to the reporters' request for a comment on Zagorec's arrest.    

"Now, we must uncover the entire network and I think we can because, today, Croatia is a law-based state," said Mesic, adding that this was a rather slow process since he has been waiting for results since 1991. 

He pointed out that he could not comment on Zagorec's arrest when the General was not here and until he issued a statement. "I do not know under what circumstances it all happened, but since we are a law-based state, we should allow Zagorec to defend himself in the best possible way."

So far, about a hundred secret accounts have been discovered abroad, which is "very surprising," Mesic said.

"When Croatia became independent, when it became quite clear that there was no more Yugoslavia and that Croatia was recognized... it was not clear to me why accounts were still being opened and why the accounts were abroad when everyone was blue with patriotism, thumping their Croatian chest. However, they kept their money elsewhere. This is interesting." 

The former Assistant Minister of Defence of the Republic of Croatia, General Zagorec, was arrested in Vienna on Tuesday evening after the Croatian judiciary had issued an international arrest warrant. The General was arrested and taken to prison by the members of the service for constitution protection and fight against terrorism.

The retired General Zagorec is suspected of abuse of position and authority, i.e. of having taken the jewels from the Croatian Ministry of Defence safe, that had been given to him by a German weapons dealer in 1993 as a safeguard for the five million U.S. dollars taken from the Ministry, intended for the purchase of weapons for Croatia's defence, when he left the office of Assistant Minister of Defence in 2000.

The spokesman for the Lansky, Ganzger & Partner attorneys' office in Vienna, that represents the Croatian General, told APA that Zagorec would stand before an investigating judge on Wednesday, who will decide whether the General will remain in custody or be released on bail.

The attorneys' office pointed out that the Croatian authorities' charges were exclusively politically motivated.