Former Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Gabrijela Žalac has been sentenced to two years in prison for corruption, under the terms of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Žalac and three other defendants - who remain on trial - are accused of influence peddling, abuse of office, and manipulating public procurement. According to prosecutors, their actions caused losses of at least 300,000 euros to Croatia and over 1 million euros to the European Union.
“I have no comment…” said Žalac as she left the Zagreb County Court on Thursday.
Personal comment: I bet she won’t even serve the full two years. She will be released after a short while for “good behavior” or something like that…
There are a lot of expectations from the relatively new European Public Prosecution Office (EPPO) in the region. At least in Croatia they start to deliver.
As for Žalac, I don’t really think she should be paid her stay in prison with taxpayer money, so they could let her out in home custody or whatever.
"The defendant Gabrijela Žalac was found guilty today. On the basis of her admission of guilt and the agreement between the parties, she has been sentenced to two years in prison. It should be noted, that prior to this verdict she voluntarily paid back to the state 200 thousand euros, a part of the damages she caused by her criminal actions,” said Sani Ljubičić, a prosecutor assigned to the case by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).
