Granic's statement that he would leave the party is only formal because he actually left the party after the last parliamentary elections, the statement read.
In an interview carried by a Croatian daily, Granic said he was certain that he had been framed in connection with suspicions about his taking bribes and that he believed that the head of the Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime, Zeljko Zganjer, and Justice Minister and DC leader Vesna Skare Ozbolt had more information about his case.
Supporting his claims about his being betrayed, Granic said that on May 7, the DC issued a statement at 10 am renouncing, even before he was told (at 2 pm) that he had been brought in for questioning and would have to appear before an investigating judge. "That means that information from state institutions was used for party purposes," he said.
The DC said that in its comment on Granic's arrest on May 7, given at the request of the press, it had expressed its surprise as well as its stand that legal institutions had to treat all citizens equally and be completely free in doing so.
Since a special party convention in December last year, at which Vesna Skare Ozbolt was elected DC president, Granic has completely distanced himself from the party, the statement said.