USKOK accused two judges from Split

A judge from Split Robert Pesutic, his colleague from the same municipal court Ante Unkovic, Nada Karin, Gabrijela Soldo and Gordan Bicak were indicted in the County Court Rijeka by USKOK. They were accused of taking and giving bribes, the misuse of authority and position, helping the corruption and encouraging  the misuse of authority. All the criminal acts are connected with convicting and postponing the prison punishment. It was also suggested that the money that was illegally taken must be given back. It is about 15 thousand HRK.

Out of five defendants only a judge Pesutic stayed in an investigation prison in Rijeka. He was released last year in December after the County Court accepted a bail - real estates one million HRK worth from his family. He was in prison for almost two months after he was arrested in Split and brought to Rijeka which was chosen for conducting this case. It was proposed by the State Attorney Mladen Bajic.

A judge Pesutic faced a charge of offering a favor to Nada Karin in 2010. He promised to ensure that judge Unkovic would drop the charges against one defendant if she paid three thousand Euros.  She gave him the money in two installments of 1500 Euros and he took it to Unkovic who then stated officially in court that the defendant is not guilty of a crime. Three years earlier, in 2007, Pesutic and Gabrijela Soldo asked from one person to give them 10 thousand Euros after this person was accused of a crime. The money should have ensured that a judge Pesutic reached a verdict in favor of the defendant. The agreement said that if the verdict was not such, then the judge would either renew the trial or postpone the execution of imprisonment. The money reached the judge with the help of Soldo and then he managed to postpone the imprisonment till the decision about the case renewal.

From the end of 2008 to 27^th May 2011 he obstructed the work on the case of Gordan Bicak who was sentenced to prison. He approved the requests for delaying the imprisonment, so Bicak hasn’t been in jail so far in spite of the verdict.

Robert Pesutic was also accused of asking for a bribe from the wife of one defendant. He asked for the money even in three occasions and he got the money as a reward for a favorable sentence. The woman gave the judge 500 dollars, two thousand HRK and when he asked for the money the third time, she gave everything she had – a thousand HRK and a hundred dollars to save her husband from prison. After that her husband was given only conditional discharge from the judge Pesutic.

Besides all that, Pesutic was accused of taking a reward for reaching a verdict from one person in 2010 in Split. He got a wrist-watch three thousand HRK worth.