The northern Croatian town of Varazdin County Court has overturned an acquittal handed down by the Zagreb Municipal Criminal Court and gave former MP Branimir Bunjac an eight-month suspended sentence with two years' probation pending appeal for assaulting parliament security in April 2019.

The Varazdin court granted an appeal lodged by the Zagreb municipal prosecutor’s office, which argued that, as a state official, Bunjac knew his conduct would have considerable social impact, and that an appropriate punishment would send a message about not tolerating any form of violence.

Bunjac, a former MP from the ranks of the populist opposition party Zivi Zid, was accused of making death threats against four security guards as they were taking his colleague Ivan Pernar out of the chamber during a marathon parliament sitting.