Yesterday, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed an indictment against Selmo Cikotic, the Minister of Security of BiH, for abusing his position and authority during his mandate as the Minister of Defense of BiH.
This information was officially confirmed today by the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH. Cikotic is charged with damaging the BiH budget by about 9.7 million BAM, as well as obtaining property benefits from others in the amount of several million.
The accused is charged that in the period from 2009 to 2011, while performing the function of the Minister of Defense of BiH, he abused the official position of the Minister of State by illegally favoring a buyer to the detriment of the ministry he managed when planning, exporting and selling surplus obsolete weapons, ammunition and military equipment.
”The indictment alleges that the accused completely illegally and without legal procedure, without informing his deputies, as well as the Presidency of BiH, made changes to the contract, after which the company “Scout” d.o.o. Zagreb, instead of obsolete weapons and ammunition, which was intended for write-off and sale, in order to reduce storage and warehousing costs, amended the contract to export weapons and ammunition of higher quality and market demand, thus damaging the BiH budget by about 9.7 million BAM, as well as others, obtained material benefits in the amount of several millions,” – it is stated in the statement of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH.
The Accused is charged that, as an official in the executive bodies of BiH, in the position of State Minister of Defense, by using his official position, he caused damage to the budget of BiH and obtained a large amount of property gain for another, thus committing a prolonged criminal offense of abuse of office or powers under Article 220 of the Criminal Code of BiH. The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina will prove the guilt of the accused by examining a large number of witnesses and expert witnesses and enclosing several hundred pieces of material evidence.
The indictment was forwarded to the Court of BiH for confirmation.
