Speaking to Hina on Wednesday, Kresimir Krsnik commented on allegations in the latest issue of Globus weekly to the effect that Zagorec was in Vienna and that in 1993 the Croatian Interior Ministry issued him a passport in the name of Franjo Rudelic.
Krsnik said this was a deliberate lie aimed at creating the impression that his client would run and hide.
The attorney declined to respond when asked if he knew whether Zagorec had passports in other names, but said that "every state in the world gives their officials on undercover missions special passports that are later returned".
"If all this is true, then the weekly disclosed a state secret. Therefore we expect the state prosecutor's office to launch criminal proceedings and if they don't, we will," said Krsnik.
The chief of Croatia's crime police, Darko Dundovic, said today the Interior Ministry had never issued a passport with the name and number as published in Globus.
Zagorec, a retired general and former assistant defence minister in charge of purchasing arms and equipment, is due to appear before a Zagreb investigating judge on Friday. He is suspected of taking from a Defence Ministry safe in 2000 jewels which a German arms dealer had given him in 1993 as collateral for USD5 million from the ministry, which the dealer was supposed to use to buy an S-300 missile system for Croatia's defence.