Croatian ex-PM gets 10 years for graft

A Croatian court on Tuesday sentenced ex-prime minister Ivo Sanader to 10 years for corruption and war profiteering in a case closely watched by the EU. Sanader showed no emotion as Judge Ivan Turudic told him he had been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt. The former premier, who confidently steered the Balkans country into NATO and to the doorstep of the European Union, was convicted of taking millions of euros in bribes from Hungarian energy giant MOL and a troubled Austrian bank. He was also ordered to pay 3.6 million kunas (480,000 euros, $611,000) to the Croatian state within 15 days. In a stunning fall from grace, the once conservative politician became the highest ranking Croatian official to be convicted of corruption charges since the country proclaimed independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Prosecutors had sought the maximum 15-year jail term, saying Sanader  "betrayed the national interests" he was supposed to protect as prime minister, a job he held from 2003 to 2009. Sanader was charged with taking 10 million euros ($12.7 million) in bribes from MOL to ensure it had a prevailing influence in Croatian oil and gas group INA even though it did not hold a majority stake in the partly state-owned company. He was also charged with profiteering during  Croatia's 1991-95 war against Belgrade-backed rebel Serbs, accepting almost 500,000 euros in bribes from Austrian Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA). At the time he was a deputy foreign minister. “It was established beyond any doubt that you committed the criminal act of war profiteering," the judge told Sanader, who looked unaffected in court, dressed in a grey suit with a light blue tie. The former PM had denied all the allegations against him and blamed the prosecutors for "political persecution" ordered by his successor Jadranka Kosor. When she took over from her former mentor Kosor stepped up the fight against corruption, a key demand from the EU, but was herself toppled in last December's election. Sanader, who transformed his conservative HDZ from a nationalist to a pro-European party, shocked Croatia when he suddenly stepped down in mid-2009 without giving a clear explanation. Once a central political figure in Croatia, he now heads the list of most disliked public figures in public opinion surveys. The 59-year-old is also being tried in another major corruption case involving the illegal funnelling of money from public companies to his HDZ party and himself while in power. He was indicted for abuse of power in yet another case and additional probes are ongoing. Sanader was detained in Austria in late 2010 on a Croatian warrant and held in detention for a year before being released on bail in December 2011, a month after his trial began. Croatia joined NATO in 2009 and is set to become the newest EU member in July, with Brussels continuing to closely monitor Zagreb's progress in battling graft. In its latest report on Croatia's readiness for EU entry, the European Commission said the country needed to improve its track record in the fight against corruption. "The concept of political accountability and zero tolerance of corruption needs to be strengthened," the October report warned.