The USKOK anti-corruption office said on Saturday it has launched a probe into a 36-year-old suspected of being the author of fake text messages that former Dinamo football club official Zdravko Mamic claimed proved that former state prosecutor Dinko Cvitan had put pressure on Osijek County Court during a trial against him and three other accused.

USKOK notes that the 36-year-old sent fake text messages in several criminal trials in order to incite favourable court decisions.

He is suspected of writing false correspondence between Cvitan and a judge in the panel in the Mamic trial according to which Cvitan pressured the judge, prior to the delivery of a verdict, to convict one of the accused without any evidence. The trial against Zdravko Mamic, his brother Zoran, former Dinamo director Damir Vrbanovic and tax official Milan Pernar that was being heard at Osijek County Court.

According to USKOK, the suspect gave the fake correspondence to Mamic, who presented it publicly at a press conference on June 4. The prosecution recalled that Mamic’s defence attorney requested that, based on the fake correspondence, the delivery of the verdict be postponed, which the panel of judges rejected, finding all four accused guilty on June 6.

Apart from that, the suspect compiled new fake correspondence alleging pressure on Supreme Court judges who were to decide on the defendants’ appeals. The suspect intended to give these fake texts to Mamic to use as evidence in the appeal procedure. However, his plan was thwarted by a tip that a criminal investigation had been launched against him.

USKOK has recommended that Osijek County Court order investigative custody for the suspect. Osijek County Court has said that the suspect has been placed in one month’s custody.