This morning, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina handed down a first-instance verdict to the Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fadil Novalić, on charges of illegal procurement of 100 ventilators in 2020, for which 10.5 million BAM were paid.
FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalić was found guilty. In addition to Prime Minister Novalić, Fikret Hodžić, the owner of the company “Srebrena malina”, was also convicted, as well as the legal entity “Srebrena malina”, which was also the subject of the trial.
The former director of the Federal Administration of Civil Protection, Fahrudin Solak, was also found guilty.
FBiH Deputy Prime Minister Jelka Milićević, who was tried for unscrupulous work in the service, was acquitted.
By the first-instance verdict, Novalić was sentenced to four years in prison, Fikret Hodžić, the owner of “Srebrena Malina” to five years, and the former director of the Federal Administration of Civil Protection, Fahrudin Solak, to six years, Klix.ba reports.
The sentence for the convicted will be pronounced after the explanation of the verdict is read.
The trial lasted more than two years.
On March 9, the Federal Prime Minister Fadil Novalic said that he does not see the proceedings in which he is being tried for abuses during the importation of respirators as a judicial process, but as a project of a political nature.
“I don’t have an answer as to why we are the only country that initiated procurement procedures during the period of corona. We did what other leaders did,” said Novalic, adding that he did not know why a similar procedure was not initiated in Republika Srpska (RS), nor where the illegal property benefit he acquired was.
His defense attorney, Nina Karacic-Brkovic, assessed in her closing statement that the most striking charge in the indictment is money laundering and that, as she stated, she does not want to think that the prosecutors are claiming that the money from the budget was obtained through a criminal act.
The defense attorney said that the Government was in charge of providing funds for the purchase of respirators, and that Novalicwas not obliged to know what type of respirator it was. She stated that “Srebrena malina” sent offers for the purchase of equipment to other, not only to the Government of the Federation.
Novalic was charged together with the suspended director of the Federal Administration of Civil Protection (FUCZ), Fahrudin Solak, owner of “Srebrena Malina” Fikret Hodzic, as well as the company itself, and Federal Minister of Finance Jelka Milicevic.
Solak’s defense in its closing statement assessed that this case, from a legal point of view, is simple, but that it is unprecedented due to the media and political chase.
According to defense attorney Marsela Bajramovic, the indisputable facts are that respirators were needed, that FUCZ received a request to make the purchase, that the offer of “Srebrena Malina” was the most favorable in terms of price, quantity and delivery time, and that the purchase was realized. She pointed out that Solak did not take any action contrary to the regulations.
