ZAGREB POLICE, "OPEN SOCIETY" ON DETENTION AND SUBSEQUENT RELEASE OF TWO OPEN SOCIETY EMPLOYEES

OF TWO OPEN SOCIETY EMPLOYEES ZAGREB, Dec 13 (Hina) - Two people were taken in custody on Thursday evening on suspicion that they had "committed abuse authority with intent to defraud the Open Society Institute in Zagreb for US$ 65,374," the Zagreb Police Department said on Friday in a statement. The sum was discovered by customs officials upon inspection of a passenger vehicle at the Bregana border crossing on the Croatian- Slovene border, the statement said. When questioned about the provenance of the sum in question, the driver and the passenger, both Open Society employees, contradicted each other, the statement noted. However, "the investigation having shown that no indictable offence had been committed, in view of the fact that the sum was the proceeds of resident account transactions with a view to financing Open Society Institute projects in Croatia, the matter was passed on to competent government bodies," the statement concluded. The two Open Society employees were released. Meanwhile, the Open Society Institute issued a statement asserting that their officials had not violated any foreign currency regulations. Protesting over the way this incident was covered by Croatian TV, the statement noted that the sum had been found behind the driver's seat and was therefore not "hidden away" as the TV story put it. Thanks to a conscientious and correct police investigation, it has been shown that there are no grounds for prosecution, the statement concluded. (hina) jn as 132231 MET dec 96