Barbara Antolić Vupora, the head of the Union of Slovenian Associations in Croatia and an MP for the Croatian opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP), has been arrested by the Croatian authorities on suspicion of corruption related to permits for renovation of her home.

Antolić Vupora was arrested on 11 February as part of a larger stint that resulted in 14 arrests, including several high-ranking officials of the public administration in Varaždin, according to reports by the Croatian news agency Hina.

Citing unofficial sources, Hina says that investigators believe Antolić Vupora illegally obtained permits for house renovation in Varaždin with the help of the head of the city's construction department.

According to the news portal Index, the property in question is owned by Antolić Vupora and her husband.

The authorities sought that she be stripped of her immunity as an MP, which the Sabor, the Croatian legislature, granted unanimously.

Meanwhile the SDP stripped her of her party functions and expressed support for the Office for the Suppression of Organised Crime and Corruption (USKOK), which is investigating the matter.

However, it also implied that the timing of the arrest coincided with several matters the Croatian government might not have wanted in the spotlight, including what the SDP believes was a late dismissal of the management of the country's largest ferry company, Jadrolinija, which has seen a number of incidents, including a fatal accident, in the past year.

Antolić Vupora's lawyer Goran Vučetić said he was not worried about the case and that his client would prove her innocence. "What I am concerned about, not only as a lawyer but as a citizen, is this procedure and the whole situation," he said.

A member of the Slovenian community in Croatia, Antolić Vupora was re-elected to the Croatian parliament in April 2024, four years after becoming the first member of the Slovenian minority to make it to the Sabor in its 30-year history.