Croatia's health minister and several others were detained on Friday on suspicion of corruption as part of an investigation launched by the European prosecutor's office, authorities said.
Minister Vili Bero, directors of two hospitals in Zagreb, Croatia's capital, and two companies are suspected of "accepting and giving bribes, abuse of position and authority and money laundering," the European Public Prosecutor's Office, or EPPO, in Zagreb said in a statement.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic promptly sacked Bero from the government, HRT state television said. Croatian media reported that police raided Bero' home in Zagreb early on Friday.
"Personally, I am appalled by the idea that anyone in the health system would use their position for personal gains or for favors to anyone else," Plenkovic said at a press conference. "The health system is a particularly sensitive department.
"We as a government have not and will not protect anyone from criminal prosecution if they are suspected of committing criminal acts, regardless of who that may be or which duty they have," Plenkovic said.
