In the center of Osijek, a car owned by County Court judge Vlasta Šimenić-Kovač, who in the past few years led a series of court proceedings that were very exposed to the public, burned down today.
Kovačeva said that she has no knowledge that she resented anyone and that she is in shock.
“I’ve been judging for 22 years and during that time, of course, you always hold a grudge against one side and there is always some such possibility. However, I have no such knowledge.”Kovačeva told HRT.
She says that she is not surprised by this and that the general opinion is that judges are corrupt.
“Certain anomalies that exist in every segment of society and that because of this things should not be generalized. Most of us do our jobs honestly and responsibly. We as judges do not suffer any protection, we are very exposed, and what happened today also speaks for that.”Kovačeva added.
She stated that she expects the state to start taking care of the judges, whom she appointed to take up this duty and to make judgments on behalf of Croatia.
The car was completely burnt in the fire, and the vehicle parked next to it was also damaged.
The police received a report about the fire at six o’clock this morning, and the investigation determined that it was caused by human action, according to the Osijek-Baranja Police Administration.
The judge of the Osijek County Court, Vlasta Šimenić Kovač, led, among others, the trial in the so-called “SMS” affair, in which in February 2020, former police computer scientist Franjo Varga was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for preventing evidence, and his assistant, former the driver of the Minister of Agriculture, Blaž Curić, was sentenced to two years in prison.
Varga was accused of creating a fake text message between the former chief state prosecutor Dink Cvitan, a judge and the then director of USKOK Tamara Laptoš, according to which proceedings were initiated in Osijek against the former head of the football club “Dinamo” Zdravko Mamić and three other defendants for drawing money from that club.
(Srna)