In an interview for Croatian Television political talks show Fokus on Tuesday evening, Mesic said that the meeting between his advisor and Zagorec had been agreed with the help of reporter Romano Bolkovic and Zagorec's friend and associate Romano Binder whom he received in Vila Weiss. According to Mesic, Binder informed him that Zagorec was willing to share information concerning the accounts and the transfer of money raised for Croatia's defence only and exclusively with the President's Office.
Mesic reiterated that his Office informed Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic about all of this and that Bajic consented to the Vienna meeting. Mesic said that the chief state prosecutor had also been informed about the content of the talks with Zagorec, whom the Croatian judiciary wants on suspicion of abusing his position of assistant defence minister.
The president dismissed claims by Zagorec's attorneys that their client had been offered to tun the state's evidence. "Whom did I ever offer to turn the state's evidence? Maybe Croatian Radio Television is able to confirm that I had ever been capable of suggesting such a thing for anyone and have a witness turn the state's evidence, Mesic said in the interview during which he expressed dissatisfaction on several occasions with the way the national television covered the Zagorec case.
He also dismissed that his advisor asked Zagorec to check the document allegedly proving that the 19 tons of gold had indeed been transferred. Mesic said that Zagorec was the one who showed the document to Perkovic.
Asked why was he being so critical of the media who were just doing their job, Mesic said this was not the job of the media.
"You cold have reported on this and said that a competent institution, an institution that was paid to do that, was working on it. But Croatia must have scandals and it is also a scandal to behave the way you did," Mesic said, adding that now it turns out that those who want to trace the plundered money were guilty and not those who had plundered.
The president said that the Zagorec case was being used to stir up discord among the state leadership.