Former Croatian Prime Minister jailed for corruption

Former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has been found guilty of corruption charges by a court in Zagreb and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The 59-year-old, who served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2009, is the highest ranking former official tried for corruption in Croatia which has pledged to root it out as it becomes a member of the European Union member in 2013.

Judges found him guilty of accepting a €10m bribe from Hungarian oil company MOL in return for securing it controlling rights in Croatia’s state oil company INA, and receiving €545,000 in kickbacks for a credit deal with Hypo Alpe Adria Group which gave the Austrian bank a leading position in Croatia.