Croatian PM sacks health minister accused of corruption

Prosecutors impeach suspects of ‘accepting and giving bribes, maltreatment of position and authority and money laundering’.

Croatia’s premier curate has fired Health Minister Vili Beros pursuing his apprehension connected suspicion of corruption arsenic portion of a European Union investigation.

“This morning, erstwhile Minister Vili Beros and 2 different individuals were arrested arsenic portion of an cognition conducted” by anticorruption officials, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told a news convention connected Friday.

“As premier minister, I americium personally appalled by nan thought that anyone successful nan healthcare strategy would usage their position either for individual enrichment aliases to favour personification other wrong nan healthcare system,” Plenkovic said.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) successful nan capital, Zagreb, said it had launched an investigation into 8 people, including Beros and nan board of 2 hospitals.

The EU’s independent nationalist prosecution agency accused nan suspects, and 2 companies, of “accepting and giving bribes, maltreatment of position and authority and money laundering”, it said successful a statement.

“Mr Beros wholly denies immoderate criminal responsibility,” his lawyer Laura Vakovic told journalists.

Plenkovic, who was re-elected successful April, said, “We arsenic a authorities person not and will not protect anyone from criminal prosecution if they are suspected of committing criminal acts, sloppy of who that whitethorn beryllium aliases which work they have.”

Between June 2022 and November 2024, 5 of nan suspects tried to “secure undue financial gains” successful a strategy involving nan waste of aesculapian robotic devices for respective hospitals successful Croatia, prosecutors said.

The suspects besides offered bribes to manipulate nan nationalist procurement process, according to nan EPPO.

This was attempted connected astatine slightest 4 occasions but did not activity successful nan lawsuit of an EU-funded task successful nan coastal municipality of Split, wherever their bribe was refused, nan prosecutors said.

In nan different 3 instances successful various hospitals successful Zagreb, “there are allegations that nan curate of health, successful speech for a bribe received, issued approvals for nan acquisition of operating microscopes astatine unreasonably inflated prices, and provided costs for nationalist procurement.”

The value was “unjustifiably accrued by [$654,000] to nan detriment of nan Croatian nationalist budget,” nan prosecutors added.

Croatia’s Office for nan Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) confirmed nan arrests without identifying nan suspects.

Beros was appointed to nan station aft his predecessor, Milan Kujundzic, was sacked successful January 2020 complete his links to a lawsuit involving undeclared assets.

Since taking powerfulness successful 2016, respective ministers from nan premier minister’s blimpish Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) statement person stepped down amid corruption allegations.

Croatia has had terrible problems pinch systemic and governmental corruption. It is mostly classed by world anticorruption groups arsenic one of nan astir corrupt states among nan 27 EU personnel countries.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies