Dalibor Semper, head of the Office of Deputy Prime Minister Anja Simpraga, has been remanded in investigative custody after seriously injuring a child in a road accident and trying to flee from the scene.

Karlovac County Court investigating judge Elma Kaleb Mamic confirmed to Hina on Sunday after a two-hour hearing that she had upheld the prosecution motion and ordered one-month detention because of the risk of the suspect interfering with witnesses and repeating the crime.

The accident occurred on Friday evening in Stikada, near Gracac, about 70 kilometres inland from the coastal city of Zadar. The 45-year-old driver, driving under the influence of alcohol, skidded off the road and hit a 10-year-old boy who was walking by the edge of the road in the opposite direction.

Prosecutors said after the hearing that the suspect had failed to administer first aid to the injured boy even though he could have. The suspect left the scene but was soon stopped by members of the public.

The child suffered multiple injuries and was transferred to the Gospic General Hospital and from there to the Zagreb Clinical Hospital Centre, where he underwent surgery on Saturday. “He is now in stable condition and his life is not in danger,” the hospital’s director Ante Corusic told Hina.

Deputy Prime Minister Anja Simpraga confirmed to Hina on Saturday that the driver was the head of her office.

Simpraga said that the police were investigating the case and that she would initiate the procedure for the dismissal of her head of office.

“As soon as we learnt this, we contacted the boy’s family to express our regret for this unacceptable and unjustifiable act. What is most important is that the child’s condition is stable, and we wish him a speedy recovery,” Simpraga said.