Bonum Certa Men Certa

Battistelli Hopes That People Forget (or Don't Know About) Criminal Charges Against Željko Topić, But Croatian Media Does Not Forget as Election Imminent

"A new political scandal in Croatia?"

FIFA EPO
Nothing scares some organisations as much as truth itself



Summary: Techrights has got some news from Croatia which can indirectly relate to the EPO scandals and are associated with corruption and criminal charges

Weekend news in Techrights will set aside the EPO's attack on unions (at least for a moment) and focus on other patent-related matters. We will hopefully fully catch up with everything that is out there about the attack on the unions (we still need the internal communication from the EPO and the Heise article's translation, shall anyone be willing and able to provide those).



Today, for the first time in quite a while, Croatia will be our focus, at the very least because the criminal charges against Željko Topić resurface in some form in the press. The Topić Audi/Mercedes scandal was covered here numerous times before, so readers can revisit our archives and catch up.

"I just got news for Croatia," a source told us, "that the former Minister of Science Dragan Primorac is being considered as a candidate for the position of Foreign Minister in the new government."

We received a translation of a recent news report from tjedno.hr, a news site from Croatia. "According to the information," this source told us, "the new government is due to be announced on Friday." (that's this week)

"Here is a link which gives some information about the situation," this source told us. To quote: "HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko and MOST leader Božo Petrov met yesterday afternoon for an hour and discussed the process of forming the new Croatian government, reports Vecernji List on January 12, 2016."

“Now Battistelli created his gang with for the biggest part French friends and family members.”
      --Anonymous
Consider the arrest of previous country leaders in Croatia. The perception of corruption there is high and the perception of corruption inside the EPO (where Topić is Battistelli's right-hand man) has become quite high or strong. It's so strong in fact that earlier today someone called for sanctions against Germany (until it intervenes in EPO affairs). To quote this one comment: "As an expression of personal protest against Germany, the host country of the EPO which incomprehensibly continues to tolerate on his soil the dictatorship of Mr Battistelli & Co. (as the Münchner Merkur put it: "Die letzte Diktatur auf dem deutschen Boden" after the Nazi and DDR regimes), whenever possible, I will stop buying or using German goods or services until the German Government takes clear position against the blatant violations of human rights and rules of law at the EPO. I ask all the readers of this blog, who still care about justice and the future of the EPO, to join me in this boycott. It might sound irrelevant but every long walk begins with a small step."

Another person hopes that Battistelli "and his gang will soon be dismissed and replaced by a normal functioning management." To quote this entire new comment: "Knowing the EPO from the time of Bob van Benthem, the first president and one of the fathers of the EPC and of a successfull EPO, I felt very sad yesterday and also the whole year 2015 because of the very bad news I received regularly. Bob was an honest and high level patent specialist. But he was also a generous and sensitive human being. He was an excellent manager. That time it was impossible that when you worked for the EPO, your wife could get a job there. The EPO did not like two ۬privileged۬ in one family. Now Battistelli created his gang with for the biggest part French friends and family members. Moreover Battistelli has by far not the high quality of Bob. He is not a honest and a high level patent specialist. He is a not a human honest person but a dishonest and cruel person and not only because of that not able to be a manager. Battistelli is the first president who needs body guards. He is the first president who avoids contact with the directors and examiners. He is the first president who needs Control Risks and illegal phone and PC taps. I hope that he and his gang will soon be dismissed and replaced by a normal functioning management.

“Battistelli is the first president who needs body guards.”
      --Anonymous
"The EPO staff representatives always did excellent work. Els Hardon advised me once in a case in a very good and detailed manner. She is very intelligent and for SUEPO the right woman on the right place. I fully agree with Anonymous here above that the vicious and disproportionate punishment dished out by Battistelli shows how well the staff representatives have done their jobs in exposing him and his inner circle for what they are. I think with his decision Battistelli shot in his own foot."

One person rightly asked: "How did the President get this position? Are there no checks or tests at all?"

He is more well-connected than sufficiently qualified [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].

Another commenter wrote "An Organisation which belongs to just one man is no true Organisation!"

With all this in mind, consider the fact that the last thing Battistelli wants right now is some 'investigative' unit going after him and fellow managers. "It will be interesting to see whether Primorac is appointed or not," our source told us. Here is the original article (in Croatian) and here it is in English as HTML:

EXCLUSIVE: MAIN FEATURE

VETERAN MANIPULATORS PRIMORAC, ŽANETIĆ AND STERN TO BE MEMBERS OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT BY DECISION OF PM DESIGNATE



3 January 2016

Croatia elections



Dragan Primorac is involved in two incidental criminal lawsuits from the era of Prime Minister Sanader. One of these is associated with the Croatian Standards' Institute (DZN) where a "written-off" VW Touareg SUV disappeared. Siniša Žanetić was in the securities business, and earned his expertise in the Karlovačka and Raiffeisen Banks, Zagreb Insurance and Partner Bank. During his time in Karlovačka bank he was sentenced in the Karlovac court and fined along with Sandi Å ola and Marijana Trpčić-Reškovac. As far back as 2000, Mr. Radimir ÄŒačić, a member of the Račan government, publicly stated that " prison bars are the future" for Davor Å tern.

Written by: Franjo Dobrović Photo: www.ezadar.hr

Dragan Primorac - a former cabinet minister during the Sanader, Davor Å tern - a former Croatian Minister of the Economy, entrepreneur and currently member of the Zagreb City Assembly and a certain Siniša Žanetić - a former board member of the Karlovačka Bank, the main financier of Pliva, whose relationship with tennis player Iva Majoli was subject of many gossip columns, form the trio that, according to some unofficial sources, are among the personal choices of the Prime Minister designate Tihomir Orešković for ministerial positions in the new government of the Republic of Croatia. All three candidates of Mr. Orešković are connected to American-Israeli business circles or have been trained there like Siniša Žanetić. They are the personal choices of the PM designate Tihomir Orešković and, as we learned, are not linked to the party quotas of coalition partners HDZ and MOST for ministerial positions in the new coalition government.

Convicted together with the Å ola brothers

Siniša Žanetić was in the securities business, and gained his experience in the Karlovačka and Raiffeisen Banks, Zagreb Insurance and the Partner Bank. During his time in Karlovačka Bank, he was sentenced by the Karlovac court and fined together with Sandi Å ola and Marijana Trpčić-Reškovac because of irregularities in the allocation of loans and payments. Besides that, Karlovačka bank as a legal entity was also subject to a heavy fine. In addition, he is also mentioned in an detailed negative report of the Croatian National Bank prepared during the monitoring that was carried out in the Bank in connection with the "Mamma Mia" scandal1.

The damage suffered by the Bank and its shareholders in the scandal was estimated at over HRK 170 million. In addition, he was a suspect under charges of money laundering through Karlovac handball club. In the course of the three years during which the Karlovačka Bank was its main sponsor, the club received around 2 million HRK. Mr. Siniša Žanetić is the current preferred candidate for the post of Finance Minister.

Missing cars

Dragan Primorac is the preferred choice of PM designate Tihomir Orešković to succeed Vesna Pusić in the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Primorac is involved in two incidental criminal lawsuits from the era of the former Prime Minister Sanader. One is related to the Croatian Standards' Institute (DZN) where a "written-off" VW Touareg SUV disappeared. The other is related to the State Intellectual Property Office (DZIV) where, allegedly, an official Audi A6 Quattro "went missing" from the official car park. In addition to the A6 Quattro, another Mercedes car disappeared from the DZIV car park through financial manipulations during the time in which Mr. Primorac was sitting in Sanader's cabinet. Both lawsuits are being dealt with by the County State Attorney's Office in Zagreb.

"Loose ends" at White Nights

According to unofficial sources, Davor Å tern is the most likely candidate of the "Canadian" PM designate for the post of Minister of the Economy. Mr. Å tern has never explained some financial "loose ends" relating to the White Nights, that is, the claims to concession contracts for Russian oil fields2.

As far back as 2000, a soft-spoken Radimir ÄŒačić, a member of the Račan government, publicly predicted that "prison bars are the future" for Mr. Å tern. Davor Å tern confirmed his excellent Russian-Israeli business connections by his presence at the wedding of the housewife and novice golfer, Ms. Maja Brinar and Mr. Aaron Frenkel in Monte Carlo in 20043. Some 700 guests invited from all around the world attended this wedding in the principality of Monaco.

The sharks are approaching...

Whether or not the church pastors congregating around Božo Petrov of MOST have any idea about the above matters should become apparent during the negotiations on the formation of the new Government between the "Patriot coalition" and the PM designate Tihomir Orešković which are due to start in a few days. It could be that the members of MOST have already received some hints in reaction to the recent disturbing announcement on the party's official Facebook page. However, the public yet has to learn whether or not these [i.e., Žanetić, Primorac and Å tern] are the approaching "sharks" to which MOST referred in its Christmas epistle4. All in all, the first weeks of the New Year 2016 in the political life of Croatia promise to be anything but dull. As we can see, the veteran manipulators are hoping to make a comeback to the "great game" through the new Government.

____________________________ 1 Translator's note - More information to be found here: http://easteuropebankingdeposits.blogspot.de/2013/04/croatia-police-arrest-former-ceo-of.html

2 Translator's note - More information to be found here: http://arhiva.nacional.hr/en/clanak/18202/ina-could-lose-74-million-in-the-sale-of-white-nights

3Translator's note - More information to be found here: htp://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/inside-intel-friends-in-high-places-1.278328

4 Translator's note - More information to be found here: http://www.total-croatia-news.com/politics/1900-in-a-christmas-message-most-attacks-sdp-and-warns-hdz



Some local reporters have called Topić “Sanader’s protégé" (Sanader is already in prison). The most relevant part from the above is this: "Dragan Primorac is the preferred choice of PM designate Tihomir Orešković to succeed Vesna Pusić in the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Primorac is involved in two incidental criminal lawsuits from the era of the former Prime Minister Sanader. One is related to the Croatian Standards' Institute (DZN) where a "written-off" VW Touareg SUV disappeared. The other is related to the State Intellectual Property Office (DZIV) where, allegedly, an official Audi A6 Quattro "went missing" from the official car park. In addition to the A6 Quattro, another Mercedes car disappeared from the DZIV car park through financial manipulations during the time in which Mr. Primorac was sitting in Sanader's cabinet. Both lawsuits are being dealt with by the County State Attorney's Office in Zagreb."

Remember that, as far as we are aware, this is the subject of ongoing court cases in Croatia. Pointing this out is, based on our understanding, what got the suspended judge in a lot of trouble and then -- by association -- got SUEPO under fire.

We urge EPO staff to dig deeper into these matters. It's clear that there is something there which the EPO's top management is very much afraid of.

“Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin.”

--Dwight Eisenhower



“Injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.”

--Martin Luther King Jr.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Lucas Nussbaum & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
There Were Several Waves of Microsoft Shanghai Layoffs in 2025, Western Media Continues to Turn a Blind Eye to Chinese Layoffs of an Epic Scale
Sometimes select Taiwanese news sites (published in English) or automated translations are all we have
Brett Wilson LLP Spreads Trumpism to the United Kingdom, Looking to Profit From 'Legal Colonialism' (Overriding Sovereignty)
There's growing recognition of this conundrum worldwide
 
Brett Wilson LLP Getting Sued by Its Very Own Clients, a Legal Story That Has Made the Mainstream News (Law360)
Law360 or Law.com are about as mainstream as one can get in that "sector" (litigation 'industry')
Slopwatch: GNU/Linux Sites That Became Slopfarms and Spamfarms
The Web is a mess and "Linux" or "Ubuntu" sites became part of the problem
Richard Stallman's Talk 25 Hours Away, Aula Magna Palazzo del Rettorato (CU001), Sapienza Università di Roma (Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5)
The talk is 25 hours away and we see some QR code for it
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: Watches, the Depression of 2026, Gamboling with Odds
Links for the day
Links 12/10/2025: 'False' DMCA Claims and Slop Facing Perils Again (the Hype Wears Off)
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Just Lost Privacy Case in Austria and Its Latest Moves Make a Complete Ban Seem Imperative
Microsoft is not a software company, it's a spying agency that uses software to collect data
The Register MS: Microsoft is the Security Expert, Not the Prime Culprit, So Buy More Microsoft
This front page feature is devoid of any actual substance, it's just Microsoft copypasta
Paris 'Love Nest' & Debian Outreachy: from Lycée Lakanal to ENS Cachan, Cr@ns, nepotism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Stefano Zacchiroli (Zack) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: "Palm Computering", Further Exploration of Slide Rules, and Key Takeaways from The Well-Grounded Rubyist
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 11, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 11, 2025
Tomorrow: Founder of the Free Software Foundation and of GNU/Linux, Richard Stallman, Speaks in Roma (Rome), Italy at 4PM
GNU/Linux is more important than ever in this dystopian world
Microsoft and Apple Are Rare Topics in Geminispace
in Geminispace it's rather safe to assume everyone is into BSD, GNU/Linux, and sometimes retro
Qualcomm and Manchester United Appear to Have Dumped Microsoft (Qualcomm Now Invests More in Linux, Apparently)
It's a relief to no longer see Microsoft logos and brands on a local football club's gear (I'm not a Manchester United fan, but not a foe either)
As Guest of Honour in Rome, Founder of the Free Software Foundation to Speak ("Distinguished Lecture") After Introduction by Leonardo Querzoni
Happy hacking...
All Things Open is Proprietary
The OSI has become a front group of proprietary software openwashers, led and sponsored by proprietary giants
When Microsoft Lays Off Lots of Workers They Say It "Invests in AI" (a Lie), Now It's "Reshuffles" or "Microsoft Tightens"
Microsoft "news" by bots
"I saw Richard Stallman give a talk in the mid 80s, which began my fear and loathing of software patents" and "Richard Stallman was always right."
"By betraying the legacy of our ancestors, we’ve set ourselves on a path toward self-destruction — moral, intellectual, economic, and ultimately biological."
The Demise of Shopping in Person
In a world like this, how valued is the customer?
We Are Safe in a Modern "Tech" Society, Right?
People are safer if they control their own computing
This Past Friday, "Nearly 700 People Came to Listen to RMS!" (Richard Stallman)
"Nearly 700 people came to listen to RMS!"
Distinguished Lecture by Richard Stallman This Coming Monday in Rome
After "Free software, Crucial for Freedom in a Digital World"
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Churning Out Plagiarism and the Slopfarm LinuxSecurity Turns to Pseudonyms
Our hunch is, UbuntuPIT will sooner or later realise that this toxic approach is just harming UbuntuPIT and tainting the reputation of past articles
The Lawsuit by Clients of Brett Wilson LLP Against Brett Wilson LLP is Officially On, It is Progressing, The 'Experts' Pick Outside Law Firms (RPC and Mills & Reeve) to Spare Them From Litigants in Person
So it is probably quite potent
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: Nyctography, Gerrymandering, and Lurking
Links for the day
The 'Culture Wars' in Free Software Have Gone Out of Control
Social control media amplifies such utterly infantile discourse
Teaser: To Compensate for the Fact Our Clients Are Terrible Human Beings Who Strangle Women (While on Microsoft's Payroll) and We Get Paid by Mystery Parties We Bombard You and Your Wife With Almost 10 Kilograms of Legal Papers
If you can't win an argument, then drown the other side with papers?
Links 11/10/2025: World Mental Health Day 2025, Another European Legal Defeat for Microsoft 360
Links for the day
MIT Technology Review is Part-Time SPAMfarm of Billionaires and Mega-Corporations
Does MIT operate its own "b2b" SPAMfarm?
Open Source Initiative Executive Director Leaves, Replacement Sought by Monopolists, Not the Community or OSI Members
Serves to show who runs this show...
Links 11/10/2025: China-US Tensions Grow Again, "Hey Hi" More Widely Recognised as Bubble Made of Capital That Doesn't Exist
Links for the day
Now Confirmed in Western Media: Microsoft Azure Layoffs This Month
Affirmed by more sources moments ago
Peter O'Callaghan QC represented grandparents, Westernport Hotel, at Liquor Royal Commission
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Either The Register MS Divests From FOSS Coverage or Liam Proven is on Long Holiday
Publishers perish when their audience loses trust in them
Microsoft Cancelling Another Datacentre is a Sign of Financial Trouble and Lack of Growth
The debt continues to grow
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: An Evening at the Fair and Fast Fourier Friday
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 10, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 10, 2025
Geminispace is Very Large
The word continues to spread and the number of participants grows
Another Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, This Time During National Day Holiday
This time it's China again
10 Out of 10: RMS Attracts Massive Audience in Göteborg, Sweden (All Seats Occupied, Some People Standing)
a 55-second clip of his talk
Staying Happy in Times of Crackdowns on Civil Society
Optimism in this sort of "new reality" or "new normal" seems like something for the irrational person
"Nobel" Exploited Posthumously for "AI" Hype, Now They Do the Same With "Quantum"
ere have been many jokes about "Nobel" for peace (often granted to pro-war people) and a fake one for "Economics" (establishment propaganda)
Slopwatch: Plagiarism and "Linux" Articles by Bots
Sites that do this won't survive; many of them rely on slop services (suppliers) that will cease to exist after the bubble bursts
Links 10/10/2025: Putin Admits Russia Downed Azerbaijan Airlines Jet, More New Heat Records
Links for the day
Noteworthy Claim That IBM is Firing a Lot of Lawyers This Week (RAs in the Legal Department)
A lot of what they do is patent 'trolling' or lawyering up against their own staff (e.g. HR disputes)
Links 10/10/2025: US Judge Bars Attacks by ICE On Journalists and Protesters; “We Took The Freedom of Speech Away” Says the President
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Serial Sloppers, Google News Gifting Slopfarms, and Fake News/Plagiarism About "Linux"
Google itself is a slop pusher these days
Qualcomm, the New Owner of Arduino, Blasted for Its Software Patents Tax on 'Smartphones'
A lot of Qualcomm's patents are on software. We wrote about this in prior years.
XBox Layoffs Rumours, Downtime, and Criticism From XBox Co-Founder
"everyone is ditching the xbox."
Links 10/10/2025: Honoring The Legacy Of Robert Murray-Smith, Many Articles on the Hey Hi (AI) Bubble
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: October Gothic and Reading Middle Earth Role Playing; C and Ada
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 09, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 09, 2025