ZAGREB, February 22, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović confirmed on Friday that she had signed her decision to pardon Huanito Lukšetić, a man who suffers from multiple sclerosis and who has been sentenced to two years in prison for illegally growing marijuana for sale.

The president said in an interview with national radio that her office had informed the Justice Ministry and Lukšetić 's legal counsel of her decision.

The trial court ruling was upheld late last month.

Lukšetić insists that he has been cultivating marijuana to get cannabis oil which alleviates the pain and consequences of MS.

As soon as L Lukšetić 's verdict became final, two hundred people rallied in the northern coastal city of Rijeka to support him. The parliamentary opposition party Živi Zid also demanded that the president pardon him.

Following the public outcry, the president announced that she would pardon Lukšetić.

In November 2017, the municipal court in Rijeka found him guilty of growing marijuana and of possessing 15 kilos of that plant in his house. The verdict said that such amount actually surpassed his personal needs for alleviation of the disease's symptoms. Lukšetić grew cannabis in his year in the village of Bregi on the slopes of Mount Učka overlooking Rijeka. In the same case, Goran Zakrajšek was given 10 months in prison and his conviction was also upheld.

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