The County Prosecutor's Office believes the interviews could shed light on the disappearance of jewels allegedly brought to the Defence Ministry as collateral for the purchase of arms.
Court spokesman Kresimir Devcic said that Ferek was interviewed by investigating judge Erna Drazancic, but no details could be revealed because the investigation is confidential.
Ferek was a former business partner of Zagorec's and some media have claimed that he was also his bodyguard who sometimes carried money intended for buying arms. Ferek was to have been interviewed in late March but was not due to illness. According to Drazancic, he was the only witness Zagorec could have tampered with, which was why detention was set for Zagorec.
Unless the defence proposes any witnesses, the investigating judge is expected to interview only German arms dealer Josef Rothaichner, who allegedly gave Zagorec a bag with the missing jewels.
Rothaichner's interview has been scheduled for June 29, but the Zagreb County Court still does not know if he received the summons sent to his German address stated in the case file. Even if he collects the summons, as a foreigner he does not have to appear in Zagreb and the court has no legal possibility to force him to testify, said Devcic.
According to statements by two witnesses in a trial for the kidnapping of Zagorec's son, Rothaichner brought a bag with jewels to the Croatian Defence Ministry in 1993 as collateral for US$5 million he had received to buy arms.
Zagorec has reiterated on a number of occasions that such claims are untrue and has dismissed accusations that he took the jewels with him as he was leaving his post at the Defence Ministry.
The investigation against Zagorec was launched on March 9. Four days later, he was arrested on an international warrant in Vienna, where he has been living for the past seven years. He was released from custody after posting EUR1 million bail.
On March 21, the Croatian Justice Ministry sent a request for his extradition to the Austrian authorities. The former assistance defence minister, who was in charge of arms and equipment procurement from 1993 to 2000, objects to the extradition.