Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that the HDZ respected the rule of law and would comply with the Supreme Court's ruling under which the party was fined 3.5 million kuna in the Fimi Media corruption case.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Supreme Court partly upheld the verdict following the retrial in the Fimi Media corruption case, under which the HDZ was fined 3.5 million kuna, while the former PM and HDZ chief Ivo Sanader had his prison sentence cut from eight to seven years.

Sanader and his co-defendants were charged with siphoning around 70 million (€9.3 million) kuna from state-owned companies and institutions through the Fimi Media marketing agency into the HDZ’s slush funds from 2004 to 2009. Sanader’s prison sentence of eight years, delivered by Zagreb County Court on 13 November 2020, was reduced by one year due to his poor health. However, he was ordered to pay back 14.9 million kuna into the state budget, as an equivalent of his unlawful gain, while the HDZ was ordered to pay back 14.6 million kuna.

Commenting on the final ruling, Plenkovic said that “the HDZ complies with rulings delivered by Croatian courts and will act according to the Supreme Court ruling.”

“The HDZ will pay the fine and the said amount into the state budget,” he added.

“We respect the rule of law and accept today’s verdict. We regret that during the appeal proceedings, not all the arguments presented by our legal team and lawyers were granted,” Plenkovic said.