The first ever trial of a political party in Croatia started in the Zagreb County Court yesterday, after the country's biggest ever corruption scandal.

Former ruling party the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), along with former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, former party spokesman Ratko Macek, former treasurer Mladen Barisic, former accountant Branka Pavosevic, and the owner of Fimi Media marketing agency, Nevenka Jurak, face charges of siphoning off more than 70 million kuna (9,5 million Euros) from state institutions and companies.

The indictment contains more than 550 pages with at least 150 witnesses to be called during the trial whcih is one of the biggest in the history of the Croatian judiciary. The total damage in the Fimi Media case is estimated at about 100 million kuna (15 million Euros).

It is alleged that about 30 million kuna (4 million Euros) ended up in HDZ's slush fund between 2003 and 2009 and around 15 million kuna (2 million Euros) in former Prime Minister Sanader's pocket, reported portal Tportal.