Vasvija Vidović, the defense attorney of Fadil Novalić, who was convicted in the first instance in the “Ventilators” case, said that she was not surprised by the verdict because it was leaked to the public in exact form as the Judicial Council announced it today, and that to a good connoisseur of the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was clear from the very beginning that there was a specific plan with a specific goal.
She reminded that at the very beginning of this case, when it was decided to detain Prime Minister Novalić, she pointed out that “opponents of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are targeting him and that this is a very serious situation”.
Vidović believes that it was a political project which, as she said, was unfortunately brought to an end. She asserted that the president of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Marinko Čavara (HDZ BiH), the president of the HDZ BiH Dragan Čović, members of the Croat People’s Assembly (HNS), leaders of the People and Justice Party, Our Party and SDP Elmedin Konaković, Edin Forto and Nermin Nikšić, supported the accusations in the indictment with their statements.
“As the President of the Judicial Council, Branko Perić said, it was completely inappropriate that during the criminal proceedings, the accusations were supported by the Embassy of the United States of America in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is against all the rules for them to interfere in an ongoing case, and this showed an interest for this case to end the way it did,” claims Vidović.
She also emphasizes that there were many illogical things in the sentence, such as the introduction of persons who were not included in the indictment, and things were said that were not described in the indictment. She says that Novalić was found guilty of abuse of official position, which is a specific criminal offense that requires the prime minister to act beyond regulations and authority with the intention of obtaining material benefit for himself or others. As she pointed out, there is no evidence for the abuse of official position, nor has the Court given an adequate explanation, Fena reports.
After sentencing the three defendants in the “Fadil Novalić and others” case, the judicial panel of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina explained its decision on the conviction in this case.
Fadil Novalić, Fahrudin Solak and Fikret Hodžić were found guilty of abusing their position and exceeding their authority during the coronavirus pandemic, and when purchasing respirators in March and April 2020.
After the pronouncement of the first-instance verdict, Perić explained the decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as his decision, given that he emphasized that he separated his opinion in relation to the other two members of the court panel – Braca Stupar and Goran Radević.
Namely, the Court of BiH sentenced Novalić to four years, Solak to six and Hodžić to five years because in March/April 2020 they knowingly gave consent to “FH Srebrena malina” to procure medical equipment even though it was not entered in the register of legal entities that I can do that.
We would like to remind you that “FH Srebrena Malina” is engaged in the cultivation and processing of fruits and vegetables.
Novalić is guilty because he overstepped his authority and contacted Hodžić in order to arrange with him the purchase of respirators.
He then used the Prime Minister’s authority and signed a letter of intent that ultimately led to the procurement of ventilators.
This, then, provided funds for Solak to conclude a contract with Hodžić, who then drew up the contract.
Solak, contrary to the provisions on public procurement, signed a sales contract for respirators with the legal entity “FH Srebrena malina”. Novalić then signed orders for the payment of funds provided by Privredna banka.
According to the next count of the indictment, as read by judge Perić, Hodžić, in his capacity as a legal entity “FH Srebrena malina”, concluded a contract with a Chinese company knowing that the actual price was significantly lower than the agreed price and knowing that he would thereby achieve financial benefit.
They are guilty of abuse of position and falsification of documents
Furthermore, with the conviction, Solak overstepped his authority and ordered the FUCZ employee to change the contract data, cancel the pages and documents, thereby creating the illusion that it was due to a technical error.
Hodžić was convicted because he had money that he knew was obtained through criminal activities. He then issued an order to make a decision to increase the cash amount, which he wanted to lead to the concealment of funds, knowing that the main activity of “FH Srebrena malina” is the cultivation and processing of fruits and vegetables.
Then, Novalić, after Hodžić asked him for permission to enter the register of wholesalers with medical devices.
Perić detailed that respirators were delivered on April 25, 2020, and on April 27, 2020, “FH Srebrena malina” was entered in the register even though it did not meet the criteria for that.
All this has caused damage to the FBiH budget because ventilators are not recommended for invasive treatment of more severe clinical conditions.
The verdict states that in the period from March 25 to May 24, 2020, Solak exceeded the limits of his authority by inviting Hodžić to submit an offer to FUCZ, after which they determined the price and quantity of protective equipment. Novalić asked the head of his cabinet, Bahra Džak, to deliver and prepare an offer to Hodžić, by which they abused their position and overstepped the powers they had in the positions they held at that time.
The three of them, together with the legal entity “FH Srebrena malina”, were convicted for abuse of office. Solak was also found guilty of falsifying documents and of managing the procurement of respirators and protective equipment under the same contract.
Wrongly conducted public procurement caused damage to the citizens of FBiH
By the unanimous decision of the three judges, Novalić, Solak and Hodžić are acquitted of the charges of conspiring to commit criminal acts, money laundering, receiving benefits, falsifying official books and compiling and falsifying financial results.
Judge Braco Stupar further explained the conviction in this case. His position is that they did not act in accordance with the emergency situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Novalić and Solak were self-interested because they deliberately created the conditions for the creation of financial benefits for Hodžić and thus damaged the FBiH budget.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina managed to prove the abuse of position and falsification of documents, while the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina found no evidence of conspiracy to commit criminal acts.
Stupar wonders whether FUCZ could have been a contractual party in the procurement of ventilators if this public procurement had been carried out in accordance with the provisions? He then says that FUCZ could have been a party to the contract only in two cases that did not occur.
They are accused of illegally favoring one person (Hodžić), a conscious violation of transparency, which purposefully enabled Hodžić to obtain benefits.
“A certain Asim and Fadil Novalić acted in a non-transparent, selective, targeted manner,” said judge Stupar.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as Judge Stupar continued his explanation, found evidence that ventilators could not be used for more difficult patients in intensive care units and that the public procurement was therefore carried out incorrectly.
TRIAL VERDICT
Stupar then stated mitigating and aggravating circumstances that were taken into account when passing the guilty verdict.
“The mitigating circumstances are that Novalić, Solak and Hodžić have not been convicted before and that they are family members. The aggravating circumstance is that the damage that was caused to the citizens was due to the implementation of a wrong public procurement. and life-threatening,” Stupar said.
The aggravating circumstance for Novalić is that, as Prime Minister of FBiH, he undermined the trust of citizens. Solak’s aggravating circumstance is that he had a key role because procurement directly depended on him, which also applies to Hodžić.
Stupar, at the end of his explanation, said that in accordance with all the above, the court assessed the punishments, Klix.ba reports.