Croatia's Chief State Attorney, Drazen Jelenic, resigned on Wednesday after local media revealed that he is a member of the Freemasonry organization, Trend reports citing Reuters.
In his resignation letter, Jelenic explained that his membership in the Freemasonry organization, which is legal in Croatia, didn't affect his duties, but false accusations would become an encumbrance for his further work as the Chief State Attorney.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told local media that his government will sack Jelenic, who became Chief State Attorney in 2018, in case he doesn't resign.
On Tuesday, local weekly paper Nacional published a story revealing Jelenic's membership.
Jelenic told N1 television that he joined the Freemasonry because he was impressed by the invitation. He noted that he always acted in line with the law and that his membership in the Freemasonry had not discredited the office of the Chief State Attorney.
Freemasonry is not illegal in Croatia. There are some lodges that operate in the country with around 800 members, with many doctors, lawyers and politicians among them, as the president of one of the lodges recently confirmed.
Local media, however, said that some Croatian people see Freemasonry as a suspicious organization because it is regarded as a secretive men-only society, whose members allegedly do favors for one another.