Mladen Budor got the most severe sentence of two years and 10 months in prison for serving as a mediator between students and professors at Zagreb University's transport faculty, said HINA citing the verdict.

The professors were found guilty of accepting bribes of up to €700 ($980) to allow students to pass tests regardless of their performances and, in some cases, even though they did not show up for exams.

All of them were banned from lecturing for five years and were ordered to return the bribes they received.

One professor was acquitted while the mildest sentence for the group, which also included other mediators, students and members of their families, was a six-month jail term.

The bribes-for-grades scandal erupted at Zagreb University's transport and economy faculties in September last year.

Cracking down on corruption is a key condition Croatia must meet as part of the former Yugoslav republic's bid to become a part of the European Union by 2011.

AFP

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