Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic described on Tuesday the allegations by the weekly newspaper Nacional that he had exerted pressure on the President of State Attorney's Council (DOV), Zeljka Mostecak, as a "despicable lie“and called on her to comment on the allegations.

Speaking to the press, Plenkovic “resolutely” dismissed Nacional’s claim that Mostecak, who also serves as acting director of the USKOK anti-corruption office and as Deputy State Attorney General, under his pressure prevented a security vetting of the new State Attorney-General, Ivan Turudic, whose appointment last week sparked numerous complaints and discussions about Turudic himself and the procedure of his appointment.

“This is a despicable lie, which I firmly reject. Another of the vile lies that this weekly has been spreading about me for the last eight years. They know this, so I tell them to keep these vile lies to themselves and those who support them.”

Plenkovic called on Mostecak, in her capacity as DOV president, to say publicly “whether I have ever met with her, whether we have ever communicated, whether I have ever called her and whether I or anyone from the government has ever exerted pressure.”

DOV: We reject the accusation of pressure on our work

Shortly after Plenkovic’s statements, DOV also commented on Nacional’s allegations and rejected the claims of Nacional’s sources about alleged pressure on DOV, N1 Zagreb reported:

“In the procedures for the appointment of the Deputy State Attorney General of the Republic of Croatia, the State Attorney’s Council is the body that, before deciding on the appointment, submits a request to the competent Security and Intelligence Agency to conduct a basic security clearance for candidates who do not hold the office of Attorney General. However, this power does not apply to the procedure for appointing the Chief State Attorney of the Republic of Croatia, in which the State Attorney’s Council does not make a decision on the appointment.

The State Attorney’s Council acted solely on the basis of the law and within its framework. Therefore, we strongly reject allegations of illegal work of the State Attorney’s Council in this case as well as in all other cases, and we especially reject allegations of pressure on the work of the State Attorney’s Council.”