Horvatinčić remanded in house arrest for driving under court ban
A judge at Zagreb County Court has imposed one month of house arrest on businessman Tomislav Horvatinčić on suspicion that he drove despite a court ban on driving.
Horvatinčić brought in handcuffs, court orders house arrest
A judge of inquiry at Zagreb County Court has ordered one month of house arrest for 78-year-old businessman Tomislav Horvatinčić on suspicion that he operated a motor vehicle despite a court-imposed driving ban issued along with a sentence for causing a maritime accident in which two people died. According to Večernji list's sources at the court, the measure was imposed due to the danger of re-offending — it is less severe than detention in investigative prison, which the prosecution had sought.
Before being placed in his home, Horvatinčić will be taken to Remetinec prison whilst the technical conditions for implementing house arrest are arranged. The judge's decision is not final, and defence lawyer Fran Olujić announced the possibility of an appeal.
Photograph at the wheel triggered investigation
News portal Index published a photograph several days ago showing Horvatinčić at the wheel of a car on Alea Bologne in Zagreb's Gajnice district. Police announced on Friday that they had initiated an investigation immediately following the publication of the photographs, and arrested the 78-year-old man on suspicion of committing the crime of failure to comply with a court order. Criminal investigation, police stated, is ongoing.
Interior Minister Davor Božinović commented on the case, assessing it as a question of respect for the sentence, and emphasised that a driving ban is not the same as licence confiscation. "I believe the police reacted immediately upon learning about it; they arrested the gentleman and handed him over to custody with a criminal complaint. This is therefore a criminal offence of non-compliance with a court order," Božinović said.
Defence lawyer: client has valid driving licence
After criminal investigation was completed, Horvatinčić spent the night at the Retention and Processing Unit on Osanice, and was brought to questioning at the Municipal Criminal State Attorney's Office in Zagreb in handcuffs. Defence lawyer Olujić stated that his client obtained a valid driving licence in July of this year, following medical examinations, and that he was not warned about the driving ban when it was issued to him at the Ministry of Interior.
According to media reports, Horvatinčić is suspected of driving under the ban on multiple occasions between 28 August and 15 September of this year, whilst the photograph taken on 18 September has not so far been included in the criminal complaint. The protective measure banning the operation of all motor vehicles was to apply from July of last year, when Horvatinčić completed his prison sentence, for a period of five years.
Long-running court proceedings and multiple traffic violations
Beyond the protective measure, administrative proceedings were conducted against Horvatinčić in 2017 in which his driving licence was permanently revoked due to officially established permanent health unfitness for operating motor vehicles — a conclusion reached through medical expert assessments based on diagnoses cited by both the prosecution and his defence during the maritime accident trial.
Horvatinčić was definitively convicted in early December 2019 for the 2011 accident in which an Italian married couple, the Salpietros, died — following three retrials. In the first trial he was found guilty but sentenced to conditional imprisonment; in the second he was acquitted on grounds of so-called syncope; in the third he was sentenced to unconditional imprisonment of four years and ten months, which was upheld by the County Court in Zadar in December 2019. He was first summoned to serve his sentence in March 2020, and reported to the Diagnostic Centre at Remetinec prison in mid-July 2021, after his final request for postponement was rejected — he had submitted three such requests during 2020 and 2021.
Horvatinčić claims he has suffered from a malignant disease for many years. According to media reports, from August 1999 to February 2011 he committed 31 traffic violations recorded in the Ministry of Interior's database, predominantly for speeding, and was a party to multiple traffic accidents involving fatalities.
Possible sentence for breaching court order
For non-compliance or failure to execute a final court order, the law provides for imprisonment of up to two or three years, depending on the seriousness of the offence and the type of order violated — for example, breach of protective measures or prevention of enforcement of protective measures.
Source: Večernji list