Zagreb Court Refuses Mayor's Bail Offer

A Zagreb court on Monday refused bail for Mayor Milan Bandic as he is investigated for corruption. The eight other suspects in the same case were released on bail.

Bandic and a total of 15 other persons, some of them close associates in the city administration and in Zagreb Holding - a city-owned company managing important services - were arrested 15 days ago.

Croatia's Office for Suppression of Corruption and organized Crime, USKOK, says it suspects they embezzled some 2.6 million euro.

After the arrests, 12 of them, including Bandic, were placed in custody, as USKOK said it feared that they might influence the investigation at liberty. In the meantime, three of them already posted bail and left custody.

All the accused offered bail. Going through the pleas for temporary release, Judge Zdenko Posavec accepted all of them, except Bandic's. The Mayor had offered a house worth around 750,000 euro, owned by a friend.

Judge Posavec rejected it, possibly because the offer was too low and because of fears that he could influence the investigation if he was set free.

The head of Zagreb Holding not only offered bail but also resigned from his position.

The others offered bail worth between 13,000 and 587,000 euro.