The fall of Plenković's squadron

The function of punishment, often repeated pedagogically by Zagreb lawyer Toni Nobilo, is "general prevention of criminal acts". This means that every imprisoned criminal sends a message to a potential criminal that crime does not pay. That message in Croatia, however, did not really fascinate politicians. Recidivists are a serial phenomenon. After Ivo Sanader, the prime minister who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in three trials and is still serving his sentence, almost half the company of politicians who were caught with their fingers in the jam lined up. Some of them resigned in time, others were arrested and are awaiting trial, others are sub judice, under court proceedings. Many consider the draft in the government to be the landing to which ministers in Croatia fly more often than fighter planes: 32 ministers flew out of Plenković's three cabinets alone, while only four Migas were in flight in Croatia before the acquisition of the "Rafala". "So where are those Hadese thieves? Why aren't they in jail? Well, it's not like there aren't any of them, is it?" thundered the one-time prime minister and head of the ruling government HDZ Ivo Sanader.

However, the fact that the HDZ patriarch ended up in prison was not a signal for alarm. The powerful continued to steal as if nothing had happened. Nadan Vidošević, former president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2024 for withdrawing seven million euros in the so-called "Tug" affair.

He was killed by a word that was too strong: "All the affairs that are rocking Croatia these days are an indication of the disease of the system that needs to be tackled. "Crime has become a system in Croatia, and corruption has become a lifestyle, and that is what needs to be changed," he said in his campaign for the president of the republic. "We, the citizens of this country, have the right and responsibility to fight for a better Croatia in which no one should have the right to poverty."

Then he went around the nation. "Croats are a lazy, uneducated people who have no work habits, they are used to living on other people's money", he said, then pointed out: "You cannot live on other people's money".

He psychotically excluded himself from that group. "By working honestly and investing smartly, I created capital that I am proud of. I will put everything I have and everything I know into the function of this country!" he declared, and now he is flaying the prisoner.

photo: dario grzelj / hina

OMNIPOTENT DELIRIUS

The citizens of Croatia have come to terms with the formula "from prison to Parliament". Successful politicians in permanent penetration, unaccustomed to the existence of any resistance, went from victory to victory, constantly reducing the sense of sober assessment of reality until they passed hybris, the line from which you challenge the gods. Psychologists defined their disorder as "omnipotent delirium". Ivo Sanader did not believe that anyone could arrest him, and Nadan Vidošević even less. "In the phase of omnipotent delirium, all brakes release, and the characteristic is people with whom everything went smoothly and they are convinced that they are more capable than others", psychiatrist Ante Gilić explained at the time in "Slobodna Dalmacija". If we are talking about Croatia, we are talking about an epidemic. Since coming to power in 2016, some ministers have resigned from Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's government every now and then. Some left for personal reasons, while others were linked to affairs or allegations of corruption. Currently, eight former ministers are under indictment or investigation for criminal offenses, but the judicial epilogue has not yet been reached.

Lovro Kuščević, former Minister of Administration, left the Government because of a real estate scandal. He carried out the usual procedure of the Croatian ruling class: he repurposed the agricultural land on Brač for construction. Of course - your own. When journalists discovered the bust of Ante Pavelić in his apartment on Brač, Šeretski said - "that's my grandfather".

The affair broke out in 2009. He is still on trial. The ultra-popular Minister of Health Vili Beroš, during the pandemic called "Superwillie" - children drew his portraits as Superman who saves the nation from covid - was exposed in a joint criminal enterprise of procuring medical devices for hospitals, with a hefty commission. Hrvoje Petrač also worked in the group, and for the purposes of this article it is sufficient to describe him as a "controversial entrepreneur", although he has good and bad labels in the Croatian media. He called the minister by the code name "Mali" in vocap messages. In one single day, February 19, 2022, the entire squadron of Plenković's men fell. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Darko Horvat was arrested, and the second Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milošević, the Minister of Labor Josip Aladrović, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Regional Development Velimir Žunac, and the director of the Administration for Assisted Areas Katica Mišković were also on the list of suspects. Among the suspects were Minister Tomislav Tolušić and Horvat's assistant Ana Mandac. The allocation of money from the program for the development of entrepreneurship and crafts in areas inhabited by members of national minorities was disputed. The trials are still ongoing.

HADEZE'S GLAANAK

Plenković's former minister of EU funds, Gabrijela Žalac, the prime minister's staff and political pet - he described her as the best minister - was arrested on suspicion of an astonishingly brazen, dilettante and incomprehensible theft of EU money. She overpaid for some useless software. Although numerous people - journalists, representatives of software companies that were excluded from work, and even individual employees of the Ministry - warned about the illegality and high price of the software, Žalac imposed its purchase.

The newspaper articles were ignored, the employee who warned about the illegality was punished and it seemed that it was another of our "wolf ate the donkey" stories. But she wasn't. Žalac would have gotten away with it if international investigators had not come to Croatia. Namely, in her intercepted correspondence on vocap, the initials "AP" appeared, under which Gabrijela Žalac "masked" the name of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

The weekly "Nacional" has now revealed how Plenković secretly met with Gabriela Žalac as many as five times. "All those meetings took place in the Government building on Markovo trg in Zagreb. There, Gabrijela Žalac entered the secondary, so-called the back entrance, so that her unofficial visits would not be noticed. It is very likely that they were not even recorded in the book of entry into the government building. Žalac recounted the details of those meetings to the closest circle of close people. One of them, who has direct knowledge of everything, disclosed this information to 'Nacional' and is ready to publicly testify about it, if the Croatian institutions decide that this information is important for the proceedings against Gabriela Žalac." She, among others, is in the same case with the "Queen of Knin" Josip Rimac. Allegedly, she told Plenković that, "if she speaks, everyone from the government will end up in Remetinac prison."

By the way, the honesty of Prime Minister Plenković is highly debated in Croatia. He has never been suspected of corruption, but a critical part of the public sees him as a man who "holds a thief's ladder" to members of the party elite, whom he is ready to defend until charges are filed against them. That is why he passed the so-called "Lex AP", a law that introduced the threat of criminalization to those who reveal details from investigations. Plenković stifled one institution after another: after the Commission for the Prevention of Conflict of Interest and the Agency for Electronic Media, he wanted to stifle the independent, critical public as well. Although he invoked the presumption of innocence – as in, journalists condemn people before a court – he actually intended to protect his career, and subsequently the members of his party. On the sunny glade of Hades, one day the sky darkened after all. The fearsome Romanian Laura Kovesi appeared on the horizon, serial arrester of the powerful, European chief prosecutor, former chief prosecutor of the Romanian National Anti-Corruption Administration. The Guardian described her as a "quiet, low-key chief prosecutor bringing in scalps", leading "quite a different anti-corruption drive in Eastern Europe - or the world for that matter".

Koveši took out the case of Plenković's sweetheart Gabriela Žalac from the drawers of the Croatian prosecutors and may put her in prison. She also besieged Plenković's other sweetheart - Minister of Culture Nina Obuljen Koržinek. However, the Croatian prosecutor Ivan Turudić plucked the case from the jaws of the formidable Koveša. The rule is that the European prosecutor investigates the theft of European money, and the Croatian prosecutor investigates Croatian. It was the same thing with the Minister of Health, Willy "Little" Berosh. Koveši also accused former Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić.

Basically, a specter is circulating in Croatia, the specter of Laura Koveša, and it seems that more ministers and other powerful people could end up behind bars. But will the lesson be learned? Difficult. The recidivism of Croatian politicians is incurable.

Arrested or convicted

1. Josipa Pleslic ex Rimac - State Secretary in the Ministry of Administration. "I'm always glad to come to Knin, and one of the reasons for that is certainly Josipa Rimac," said Prime Minister Plenković about the woman who fascinated all HDZ leaders. The State Attorney's Office of the Republic of Croatia accuses her of promoting jobs, diplomas and state exams. The trial is ongoing.

2. Ana Mandac - The former assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister, Darko Horvat, admitted that she helped her friends get some support at the persuasion of Josipa Rimac. She received a 10-month suspended sentence, with a three-year probationary period.

3. Gabriela Žalac - If Koveša had not set her sights on Croatia, the file on overpaid software would have languished in the drawers of DORH until Judgment Day.

4. Tomislav ToluĹĄiÄ - The producer of "Čaruga" wine did not know that EU money is not to be trifled with, because they are watched over by the terrible Koveši and a squad of her Croatian associates, who are excellently paid and motivated. Tolušić's fate is uncertain.

5. Lovro Kuščević - Although the prime minister went through "paper by paper" with Kuščević, the investigators went more thoroughly and concluded that there is enough evidence to accuse him of embezzlement with land on the island of Brac, as well as preventing evidence.

6. Darko Horvath - No one spoiled Saturday's dawn for the Prime Minister as much as Darko Horvat, that is, the news about his arrest. According to the indictment, he pushed for the allocation of funds to minority-owned companies that did not have the conditions for it.

7. Marina Lovrić Merzel - She was freed by an "Audi" that drew attention to her lifestyle and the origin of her property. He is serving a prison sentence.

8. Josip Škorić - The former president of the Croatian Roads Administration was arrested for embezzlement in that company. They suspect him of accepting bribes. Some kind soul informed him in time that he would be arrested, so he resigned before being deprived of his freedom and prevented another embarrassment to the HDZ.

9. Nadan Vidošević - The head of the Chamber of Commerce, Nadan Vidošević, whom Serbian journalists called "beautiful as sin", is serving an eight-year sentence.

10. Damir Skugor - With Ukrainians, he surely curses February 24, 2022, the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, which sent the price of gas sky high and provided him and his partners with astronomical profits, which attracted the attention of bankers. He and his father, a pensioner, had 60 million euros in their accounts!