Corrupted Judges

AIM Zagreb, February 7, 2001

"The event is so serious for the Croatian judiciary and court authorities that it demands urgent intervention of the competent Ministry and state Prosecutor's Office. The Croatian judiciary must be above every moral reproach and I think that urgent investigation would be good both for the named judges, as well as judiciary on the whole. At the same time, if we recall the recent statement of the Justice Minister, Stjepan Ivanisevic, that there is corruption in the Croatian judiciary, it should be emphasised that in this case the corruption has both name and surname and that there is no reason to further postpone the intervention", said President of the Association of Croatian Judges, Vladimir Gredelj on the discovered corruption in the top ranks of the Croatian judiciary. Namely, the daily "Republic" published that a part of documentation of the First Artisan Savings Bank which clearly showed that its owner and Director Ante Pocrnja bribed the highest judicial officials by paying for their summer holidays, air tickets and by granting them favourable loans.

In this context and on the basis of business records of the First Artisan Savings Bank, it can be concluded that Ivan Mrkonjic, former President of the Administrative Court and current member of the Constitutional Court; Milan Petranovic, head of the Penal Section of the Supreme Court; judge of the Commercial Court Ivan Sivak; Mladen Turkalj, judge of the Administrative Court and Barisa Gaspar, judge of the High Commercial Court were connected with the controversial banker. Ante Pocrnja, until recently majority owner of the First Artisan Savings Bank and of several firms, bought favours by paying summer holidays, travel costs and granting favourable loans to the most important personalities in the judicial hierarchy. He also approved credits with reduced interest rates and deferred payment to other members of the judiciary.

Despite the fact that all named persons did not abuse the concessions offered by Pocrnja in the same way, such behaviour of the highest court officials is a proof that ten-year long policy of subjecting the legislation to executive authorities did not result in only political and moral, but also financial corruption of the Croatian judiciary. In which way have the most important officials of the Croatian judiciary “cooperated" with the head of the First Artisan Savings Bank is probably best illustrated by verdicts passed by the Administrative and Commercial Courts on business operations of Ante Pocrnja, which were neither fair nor objective and wrongfully played into Pocrnja's hands.

For example, head of the Penal Section of the Supreme Court, Milan Petranovic, tried in all possible ways to repay Pocrnja's favours by helping him to, inter alia, leave the best possible impression on his business partner German businessman Sigfried Einhellig. Pocrnja probably thought that his influential friends from the Croatian social-political life could impress Einhellig so that he would be willing to invest funds in his Savings Bank. Serving as Pocrnja's promoter, judge Petranovic appeared at a reception given by the First Artisan Savings Bank in Einhellig's honour.

Summer holidays and air tickets Pocrnja paid to cooperative Croatian judges were only symbolic presents. True gifts were much more expensive, i.e. profitable. Namely, this banker generously handed out credits under favourable terms to sovereigns of the Croatian legal system. According to the First Artisan Savings Bank records, these credits were specified as special credits for renowned, VIPs. Thus, four judges: Ivan Sivak from the Commercial Court, Barisa Gaspar from the High Commercial Court, Ivan Mrkonjic from the Constitutional Court and Mladen Turkalj from the Administrative Court, got from Ante Pocrnja as much as DM 300 thousand worth credits altogether. Pocrnja personally signed credit approval for Ivan Sivak in the amount of DM 110 thousand.

How much did Ante Pocrnja pamper his favourite judges is best illustrated by the example of Ivan Sivak, a Commercial Court judge, who on November 2, 1998 - just a few days after the generous banker paid his hotel bill for summer holidays spent in "Soline" Hotel in Brela - got a credit. Terms under which Sivak was granted his credit were more than favourable. Namely, at that time, the First Artisan Savings Bank approved credits with 60 months repayment period and 15-16 percent interest rate, while Sivak got his with 120 months repayment period and 9 percent interest rate. Ante Pocrnja signed an order for the payment of DM 100 thousand-worth credit under the same conditions to Barisa Gaspar, judge of the High Commercial Court. Apart from the mentioned concessions, both Sivak and Gaspar were granted another exceptional privilege: they had to deposit only 10 percent of the amount of the approved credit. In this case the deposit amounted to almost symbolic DM 10 thousand.

In line with his status in the judicial hierarchy, Mladen Turkalj, the Administrative Court's judge, did not get so favourable credit terms as his colleagues. Namely, Pocrnja granted him a credit of DM 40 thousand with 60 months repayment period, but the same 9 percent interest rate and equal ten percent deposit (in relation to the credit amount). However, as befitting his VIP status, the then President of the Administrative Court got the most favourable credit terms. True, the name of Mrkonjic's son is on the list of VIP credit beneficiaries. It seems that in contrast to his colleagues, Mrkonjic wanted to cover up his dishonourable dealings but his efforts were in vain since Pocrnja in his Bank's documents did not miss mentioning that it was Ivan Mrkonjic and not his son who actually got the credit. The credit amounted to DM 50 thousand and 180 months repayment period and infamous 9 percent annual interest rate.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Justice, Zvonimir Separovic, enjoyed special status and privileges of the First Artisan Savings Bank. Pocrnja was especially considerate and generous to Separovic even during periods when he fell from Tudjman's grace and was active in the field of victimology instead of state politics. Consequently, Pocrnja co-financed Separovic's projects, i.e. before Tudjman relieved him of his victimological role and took him back into his political flock. Business documentation of the First Artisan Savings Bank contains a letter of June 24, 1998 of the former Foreign and future Justice Minister, Zvonimir Separovic, addressed to Pocrnja thanking him for financially helping the holding of the First Croatian Victimological Congress. In that same letter which starts with "Very esteemed Mr.President Pocrnja, Dear colleague and friend", Separovic expressed his gratitude to Pocrnja for covering the expenses of stay of Kata Perekovic, Chairwoman of the Association of Political Prisoners in Vukovar.

Ever since Separovic became Pocrnja's friend, his travelling costs no longer posed a problem. Whenever he needed it he would call Ante Pocrnja with a plea "that their friendship would not fail this time either". After such intimate Separovic's message, Pocrnja could not refuse him any favour. And, allegedly, there was quite a number of them.

The list of those to whom Pocrnja extended his services has thus expanded to include Separovic's ecologically-conscious wife Branka. In that context, the First Artisan Savings Bank covered the expenses of Branka Separovic's return ticket from Zagreb to Split. And, as a token of his appreciation, Separovic, at that time already the Justice Minister, appeared as a guest at Pocrnja's Zagreb reception in the honour of the German businessman Einhellig. At that same reception, at which the above mentioned Milan Petranovic, head of the Supreme Court's Penal Section, was also a guest, Separovic held a ringing speech which, it seemed, was supposed to encourage the German banker to invest money into the First Artisan Savings Bank. If Pocrnja's friends included such outstanding personalities as Justice Minister and renowned judges, then it seemed logical that Ante Pocrnja was a credible man to do business with.

Thanks to Sigfried Einhellig, who invested DM 22 million into this Bank, losses of the Savings Bank incurred by Ante Pocrnja' financial adventurism, were covered. "I expect the Croatian judiciary to investigate all elements of illegal business operations of the former Director of the First Artisan Savings Bank", said Sigfried Einhellig after the scandal with Pocrnja and judges reached the media. It thus turned out that outstanding Croatian judicial personalities were not a guarantee of the legality of business, but quite contrary. Namely, the investigation should reveal for what purposes did Ante Pocrnja use the money which he withdrew in cash at the Savings Bank's teller's desk, through credit cards or in some other way extracted from this institution. Those who had the opportunity to get acquainted with Ante Pocrnja's business methods think that the corruption of judicial officials is not the only thing financial and criminal police should investigate, since there were worse types of abuse in his business dealings. However, the question is when and who will discover and prosecute this when all points to the conclusion that the judicial apparatus is in the strong grips of crime.

Ivana Erceg

(AIM)