Sani Ljubičić, together with her unmarried partner Željko Jurić and his daughter Laura Jurić, about whom Nacional previously reported in the context of employment at KPMG Zagreb during the period when most of the disputed expert analysis in the Agrokor case was conducted, has filed a series of nine private lawsuits against Nacional, totaling as much as €92.145,97.
Sani Ljubičić, the European Prosecutor who led the case and signed the indictment against former Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Gabrijela Žalac in the Software affair, can be considered the new “queen” of SLAPP lawsuits. She is conducting a number of private legal proceedings and allegedly using her position to intimidate journalists, as well as other witnesses who dare to question her work and role in the Agrokor affair, along with the controversial past of her partner Željko Jurić, a lawyer who was previously formally charged in a corruption case and held in custody.
Ljubičić was a prosecutor in the Agrokor case and, as the then County State Attorney in Zagreb, commissioned an expert report from KPMG Poland. This report was later declared inadmissible as evidence in court, resulting in damage to the state budget of approximately €1.5 million. Based on a plea agreement, Gabrijela Žalac was sentenced to prison and is currently serving her sentence, albeit under privileged conditions, in a correctional facility in Požega.
Ljubičić, together with her partner Željko Jurić and his daughter Laura Jurić, filed nine private lawsuits against Nacional totaling €92.145,97. Ljubičić personally filed five lawsuits seeking €55.000; Željko Jurić filed two lawsuits seeking €21.015,99; and Laura Jurić filed two lawsuits seeking €16.129,98. In addition, Ljubičić and Jurić filed a defamation lawsuit before the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb against Nacional journalists and Jurić’s former wife Ljiljana Jurić. These represent only part of a broader series of lawsuits filed against individuals who have pointed to their controversial actions.
By their nature, these lawsuits can be considered typical SLAPP cases, aimed at intimidating and preventing journalists from doing their job and scrutinizing the conduct of prosecutors in matters of public interest, particularly in cases where the state budget has suffered significant damage. The European Commission has adopted an anti-SLAPP directive, which Croatia has not yet fully transposed into national legislation but is in the process of incorporating into new legal frameworks.
This situation highlights a troubling paradox: the European Union has appointed to its key anti-corruption body, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in Zagreb, a prosecutor who is allegedly disregarding its own directives while pursuing journalists and others who question her work. Recently, a roundtable on SLAPP lawsuits was held by the Croatian Journalists’ Association and Zelena akcija, noting that the number of SLAPP lawsuits in Croatia is not decreasing. It was concluded that adopting the recommendations of the EU anti-SLAPP directive through a new law on the protection of persons engaged in public participation is crucial.
The president of the Croatian Journalists’ Association, Hrvoje Zovko, is scheduled to meet this week with the Minister of Justice and Public Administration Damir Habijan to discuss the protection of journalists’ safety and the urgent need for the state to take key steps toward implementing the anti-SLAPP directive.
More information is available at NACIONAL.HR.