Former director-general of state broadcaster HRT, Kazimir Bacic, was released from pre-trial custody on Monday evening, his lawyers said on Tuesday morning.

In June, Bacic was arrested on suspicion of graft and influence peddling. In July he was formally sacked by Parliament, which controls appointments to the post.

Uskok corruption investigators suspect that Bacic served as a middleman between businessman Milan Loncaric and late Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic, in which Loncaric sent a €50,000 bribe to Bandic to secure the so-called Gardens of Light real estate development project in city-owned plots of land.

As a reward for his role Bacic is believed to have been given an apartment worth 1 million kuna (€133,300) in central Zagreb, state agency Hina said, without explaining who gave it to him.

According to Bacic’s lawyer Nikola Mandic, Bacic plans to return to HRT where he will probably claim his right to work as an engineer in the HRT technical department where he had previously spent his entire career before being appointed as the company’s director-general by HDZ-led Parliament in February 2017.

Immediately after getting released from detention, Bacic reportedly appeared at the HRT building on Tuesday morning, seeking to get back to work.