February 21 (SeeNews) - Croatian construction minister Darko Horvat has been arrested in a corruption probe and prime minister Andrej Plenkovic urged the prosecutors' office to reveal publicly the reasons for the “dramatic urgency” of his arrest.
Horvat and several other persons are suspected of having illegally distributed 2.6 million kuna ($392,000/345,000 euro) in grants to support entrepreneurs from ethnic minorities in 2018 when Horvat served as economy minister in the first government led by Plenkovic, the specialised anti-corruption unit of the prosecutor's office, Uskok, said in a press release on Saturday.
Horvat is a member of the ruling conservative HDZ party led by Plenkovic.
At a news conference on Saturday Plenkovic requested the prosecutors' office to disclose more information about the charges against Horvat.
"I expect that now we will all confirm that the state prosecution office and justice system work independently but they obviously have a reason for this dramatic urgency of a step like the arrest of a cabinet minister," Plenkovic said, according to a video file published on the website of the government.
The Zagreb County Court decided on Saturday to keep Horvat in police custody for a month. The corruption probe has been launched against six persons but only Horvat has been detained.
On Saturday, Horvat was dismissed from his ministerial position upon his request, local media reported.
The deputy prime minister for social activities and human rights, Boris Milosevic, had tendered his resignation after unofficial reports that he is a suspect in the grants case, public TV broadcaster HRT reported on Monday. Milosevic is a member of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), a social-democratic political force representing the interests of Croatian Serbs, which is a coalition partner of HDZ in the current cabinet.
The government led by Plenkovic has 18 members, of whom 16 are members of HDZ, one is independent and only Milosevic represents another party.
The cabinet has the support of some smaller liberal parties as well as representatives of several national minorities in parliament.
(1 euro=7.536 kuna)