"Hrvoje Petrac talked to a judge in the detention facility and answered questions about Gotovina and the forged passport which had been sent in writing by Croatian investigators," said one of Petrac's attorneys, Marijan Pedisic, stressing that Petrac was questioned as a witness.
According to Pedisic, Petrac told the judge that he had nothing to say about Gotovina and that he had seen him last in late 1999, before Gotovina was indicted by the Hague tribunal. Petrac said that he had seen Gotovina at a party given by retired general Vladimir Zagorec in Zagreb's Westin Hotel.
Last year, the Zagreb County Court sentenced Petrac to six years in prison pending appeal for involvement in the kidnapping of Zagorec's teenage son.
Pedisic said that Petrac denied having anything to do with or financially assisting Gotovina.
Petrac's Greek attorney Alexis Kougias yesterday appealed last week's decision by the local court in Corfu which approved Petrac's extradition to Croatia.
According to Greek regulations, the Supreme Court will give its opinion about the appeal to the extradition ruling, after which the case will be forwarded to the justice minister for a final decision.
Pedisic expects the Supreme Court to discuss Petrac's appeal in the next ten days.
The Greek Justice Ministry's department for foreign nationals is considering Petrac's request for political asylum, which has not been decided yet.
"We have backed the request with numerous documents proving that Petrac is a victim of political games in Croatia," Pedisic said, adding that the defence counsel had suggested hearing some witnesses before the final decision on the asylum request.
According to the Zagreb-based Vjesnik daily of Tuesday, Petrac claims in his request that the verdict passed against him in the kidnapping case was based on a political order and that he had been framed by the Counter-Intelligence Agency. Concluding his request, Petrac said he feared for his safety if extradited to Croatia, adding that as a member of the establishment of the late Croatian president Franjo Tudjman and an influential businessman he was privy to all wrongdoings of members of the former government, of whom some are still politically active, Vjesnik said.