23 December 2011 | 17:55 | FOCUS News Agency

Zagreb. A Croatian court on Friday ruled that former president Stipe Mesic will have to pay a fine valued at 9,400 euros in damages for insulting a French lawyer, HINA news agency reported, as cited by AFP.

Mesic will have to pay 70,000 kunas (9,400 euros, $12,200) in damages to the plaintiff in the case, Ivan Jurasinovic, who holds both Croatian and French nationality, the state-run news agency said.

Jurasinovic sued Mesic after he had said in 2006 that the lawyer should visit a Zagreb mental hospital "because there they can help people like him."

The statement came after Jurasinovic in France filed a criminal suit on behalf of his client Marin Tomulic. Local press reported that Tomulic, a former member of Croatian secret services and arms dealer who lived in France, accused Mesic of being part of a gang plotting to kill him.

Jurasinovic argued that the former leader's statement significantly tarnished his image in France and earned him the reputation of "crazy lawyer".

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