The newly appointed State Attorney-General Ivan Turudic spoke to N1's Nina Kljenak on Thursday.
The opposition parties in the Croatian parliament strongly resisted his appointment, especially after the media leaked a number of text messages between Turudic and former State Secretary Josipa Pleslic (ex-Rimac), who is indicted for favouring the investor building a wind park in the area of Ervenik and Knin. In proceedings that branched off from the Wind Park case, she is suspected of wrongdoing in a number of other cases, including the rigging of state exams.
Turudic was appointed State Attorney-General in a vote in the Croatian parliament on Wednesday: His appointment was supported by 78 deputies, while 60 voted against and two abstained.
In a comprehensive interview with N1, Turudic – among other things – spoke about the controversies before his election, the messages exchanged with former State Secretary Josipa Pleslic (ex-Rimac) that the media published last week, and the statements of President Zoran Milanovic about him.
Asked if he remembered whether his messages were authentic, Turudic replied that he did not know: “You have no right to discuss my messages. I do not know how Josipa Rimac could have done me a favour,” he said, adding that Pleslic had never done him a favour and that he had never done her a favour either. He also expressed suspicion that some of the messages mentioned may have been photoshopped.
“I am not sure we should have set up the EPPO”
“I saw the photos of the messages, that’s what I thought. Of the 300,000 messages that Pleslic allegedly has, some messages could have been deleted and others added, which would have made the situation bad for me. The newspapers that published them claim that the authenticity of the messages has been verified. Who verified them? If they know who, then we know who the source is that released the messages to the public. I have the right to doubt that any of the messages are not authentic,” he said, adding that in his new position he would not personally verify the authenticity of the messages, “but that the court would do so.”
Turudic also agreed with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s statement that publishing messages “in order to earn clicks” amounts to corruption: “What else could it be? The media received the data without authorisation, which means that the person who gave them the data acted without authorisation. The circle of these people is pretty closed. This person should not have passed on the messages. Corruption can take all kinds of forms,” he said.
When asked what he thought of the work of the EPPO and whether he has studied the question of the jurisdiction of the EPPO and the State Attorney Office, he replied that the State Attorney- General was responsible for resolving conflicts of jurisdiction between the
EPPO and the State Attorney- General.
“I am not sure whether we should have set up this body, a number of countries have not done so. It is a political decision and should be respected. They are looking after the financial interests of the EU. I think their power is overestimated,” he added.
There will be no complaints about offences
He also commented on the statements made by President Milanovic and the actions of the opposition.
“This is a poisoning of the public space, Milanovic should not be given any attention because he does not deserve it,” he said, adding: “The opposition has the right to act, I have no problem with that. Even for the personal insults that are thrown in my face, I will not take any action. I will not sue anyone, and I will not harm anyone.”
As his first steps after taking office, Turudic announced a meeting with the current State Attorney-General Zlata Hrvoj-Sipek, but also with Minister Ivan Malenica, whom he considers a key person because “he must ensure the material and legislative logistics.”
He said he believes that the fierce reactions of the opposition and the president have been reduced to a personal level and that a much larger number of people support his appointment.
“I have never received so many messages of support. What is happening in parliament is part of the political struggle. The opposition has put it on their agenda,” Turudic concluded.
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