Croatian PM sacks health minister accused of corruption
Al Jazeera
Prosecutors accuse suspects of ‘accepting and giving bribes, abuse of position and authority and money laundering’.
Croatia’s prime minister has fired Health Minister Vili Beros following his arrest on suspicion of corruption as part of a European Union investigation.
“This morning, former Minister Vili Beros and two other individuals were arrested as part of an operation conducted” by anticorruption officials, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told a news conference on Friday.
“As prime minister, I am personally appalled by the idea that anyone in the healthcare system would use their position either for personal enrichment or to favour someone else within the healthcare system,” Plenkovic said.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in the capital, Zagreb, said it had launched an investigation into eight people, including Beros and the directors of two hospitals.
The EU’s independent public prosecution office accused the suspects, and two companies, of “accepting and giving bribes, abuse of position and authority and money laundering”, it said in a statement.
