The the Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) and the police directorate on Tuesday confirmed reports that a former mayor of Pozega, Darko Puljasic, and a Slavonski Brod county court judge, Predrag Dragicevic, had been arrested on suspicion of corruption.

The police said that the investigation in this case is being conducted against several suspects.

In the event that USKOK requested the detention of the suspects, a decision can be expected on Wednesday.

Media outlets are speculating that judge Dragicevic had acted in favour of Puljasic in criminal proceedings that had been conducted against Puljasic when he used to be the head of the healthcare centre in Pozega-Slavonia County and that the judge had dropped the case.

Dragicevic is believed to have deluded the other two members of the panel of judges in those proceedings and misinformed them about the facts.

In return, Puljasic enabled employment for a member of the Dragicevic family.

In April this year, a court in the eastern city of Osijek sentenced former Pozega mayor Puljasic and deputy mayor Mario Pilon to suspended prison sentences on the charge of rigging tenders for the energy renovation of buildings in Pozega. Announcing the verdict the Osijek County Court ruled that both men were guilty of influence peddling.

In July 2022, USKOK issued an indictment against Puljasic and two police officers on suspicion of disclosure of confidential information regarding the probe against him in the tender-rigging case.