Ex-minister Gabrijela Žalac Moved to Požega Prison

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The news in Croatian

1. ministrica  (f.)
   žena koja vodi jedno ministarstvo u vladi ↩︎
2. korupcija  (f.)
   nepošteno i nezakonito ponašanje, često uz primanje ili davanje mita ↩︎
3. premjestiti
   staviti ili odvesti nekoga ili nešto na drugo mjesto ↩︎
4. ženski
   koji se odnosi na žene ili pripada ženama ↩︎
5. proglasiti
   službeno objaviti ili reći nešto o nekome ili nečemu ↩︎
6. kupnja  (f.)
   radnja kada netko nešto plaća da bi to postalo njegovo ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: Why was former minister Gabrijela Žalac sent to prison?

Question 2: How long is Gabrijela Žalac’s prison sentence?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
ministrica  (f.)	minister
korupcija  (f.)	corruption
premjestiti	to transfer / to move
ženski	female
proglasiti	to declare / to pronounce
kupnja  (f.)	purchase / buying

Read the full story

Former Croatian minister Gabrijela Žalac, convicted in the so‑called “Softver” corruption case, has been transferred from Remetinec prison in Zagreb to the women’s prison in Požega, according to several Croatian media reports.

Žalac, who previously headed the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, began serving a two‑year prison sentence on 10 November. She was required to report by midnight to the Diagnostic Centre in Remetinec, a section of the Zagreb prison where new inmates undergo medical, social, psychological, pedagogical and criminological assessments. Prisoners usually spend around 30 days there before officials decide where and under what security conditions they will serve their sentence.

Following this evaluation process, authorities decided to send her to the penal institution in Požega, in eastern Croatia. Media describe this facility as a fully renovated prison with modern rooms and communal spaces. It is currently the only prison in Croatia where all finally convicted women serve their sentences. Žalac has been placed in its open department, which generally means a lower level of security compared with closed prison units.

Žalac’s conviction is linked to the overpriced purchase of specialised software for her ministry in 2018. The ministry paid around €1.73 million for the system, while later assessments put its real market value at about €360,000. In a deal with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), she admitted guilt before the County Court in Zagreb. She was found guilty of abuse of office and authority and of trading in influence, specifically of favouring certain parties in the software procurement process.

The so‑called Softver affair has attracted wide attention in Croatia because it involves EU funds and a former cabinet member. Croatian outlets point out that her transfer to Požega is a standard step following the diagnostic phase, not an exceptional measure. The move also highlights how women’s imprisonment in Croatia is centralised in a single national facility.

According to legal information quoted by the media, Žalac may, under Croatian law, apply for conditional release (parole) after serving half of her sentence. However, reports note that in practice such requests are rarely approved before two‑thirds of the sentence have been served. There is also an ongoing separate procedure concerning an additional seven‑month sentence. If she requests that the sentences be combined, the court would determine a single overall prison term.

Croatian news sources do not report major differences in the basic facts of the case, but they vary in their focus. Some emphasise the legal aspects and possible parole, while others describe in more detail the conditions in Požega prison and Žalac’s earlier arrival at Remetinec. Together, they present a picture of a former senior official now serving a custodial sentence within Croatia’s ordinary prison system, following a plea agreement in an EU‑related corruption case.

Info: ‘Croatian Learner News’ is a service from ‘Let’s Learn Croatian’, a language school dedicated to teaching Croatian, where we offer various types of online Croatian lessons for learners at different levels.