The USKOK chief Cvitan said on Monday afternoon that his deputies had acted in accordance with the code of conduct for prosecutors and therefore he rejected the defence lawyer Ante Nobilo's request as unfounded.
Defence attorney Anto Nobilo filed the motion before the formal opening of the trial on Monday, claiming that USKOK prosecutors Tamara Laptos and Marija Vucko had not entered into records everything the witnesses had said during the investigation.
Apart from Polancec, the accused in the case, dubbed Spice, are: former executives of Podravka Darko Marinac, Zdravko Sestak, Josip Pavlovic and Sasa Romac, manager of the SMS company Srdjan Mladinic, co-owner of Fima Group Milan Horvat, and lawyer Zoran Markovic.
They are charged with a conspiracy to buy a majority stake in Podravka with the company's own money, defrauding it of more than 400 million kuna (54 million euros).
Judge Sinisa Plese adjourned the hearing until Wednesday June 8 before the charges were formally read to the accused and they entered their pleas.