Member of Parliament Dalija Oreskovic of the Centre party on Wednesday commented on the arrests of Osijek judges, saying that it was "alarming that a fugitive from justice is the one making key moves in the reform of the judiciary."

“This is… a slap in the face for us as lawmakers. Croatia’s judiciary is not the first thing that needs to be changed, it is us lawmakers that need to be changed first, or at least those in the ruling majority,” Oreskovic said in parliament.

She proposed that lawmakers should be removed from the State Judicial Council (DSV) and State Attorneys’ Council.

“I don’t agree that politics is to blame. This is about one powermonger who bribed judges. Lawmakers cannot influence the DSV as judges hold a two-thirds majority in that body,” MP Nikola Grmoja (Bridge) said, commenting on the arrest of judges who were accused of corruption by former Dinamo football club boss Zdravko Mamic.

Anti-corruption investigators and police on Wednesday confirmed that Osijek judges Darko Kruslin, Zvonko Vekic, and Ante Kvesic, and Osijek businessman Drago Tadic had been arrested.

MP Grmoja called the entire case shameful. “This is shameful. Three judges were arrested today. It’s obvious that a thorough investigation is necessary in Osijek.”

From the outside, Croatia’s judiciary is independent in principle but it is not independent internally. “As long as managers can bribe judges, there cannot be any integrity,” he said.

“Zdravko Mamic is the main reformer of Croatia’s judiciary. He was the one to launch processes that were corrupt and that escalated today in Osijek. The judiciary is corrupt and we have also seen that we have weak institutions,” Social Democratic Party MP Sinisa Hajdas-Doncic said.

Mamic thanks followers on social networks for support after arrests

A convicted felon turned fugitive, Zdravko Mamic, today thanked his followers on social networks for their support after the three Osijek judges were arrested.

”All the evidence I presented to the public about all the judges I mentioned is absolutely true, and I wish to thank everyone for the support that launched the fight against thieves, charlatans and criminals in the judiciary,” Mamic said in a Facebook post.

Mamic added that he was grateful that proceedings against “racketeers and thieves in judicial circles” had finally started.

He recalled having announced that judges would be arrested after he sent a USB memory stick with evidence of corruption to the prosecutorial authorities eight months ago, after which he “embarked on the fight for a judicial reform.”