The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has rejected as unfounded the appeals of the defense of the Minister of Security of BiH Nenad Nešić, the director of the Republika Srpska Roads Milan Dakić and the director of the company “Legend” Mladen Lučić, who were ordered to be detained on suspicion of corruption crimes.
By a ruling of the Court of BiH dated December 28, the suspects Nešić, Lučić and Dakić were ordered to be detained, which according to this ruling can last for a maximum of one month, counting from the date of their deprivation of liberty, i.e. until January 26, 2025 or until a new decision of the Court.
The defense filed an appeal against the decision to order detention yesterday.
A hearing was held at the Court of BiH to order detention for the Minister of Security Nenad Nešić, Mladen Lučić and the director of “Putevi RS” Milan Dakić.
The prosecution proposed ordering a one-month detention, citing the factual process itself as the reason, explained prosecutor Bojana Jolović.
She said that specific evidence could not be provided to the defense because it could be compromised by other persons under investigation.
She stated that the case was from 2019, when SIPA noticed suspicious transactions to Esad Avdić.
The investigation uncovered a multitude of fictitious transactions related to Sanjin Avdić. Funds were paid to individuals through his fictitious legal entities. All of this happened in both the FBiH and the RS, which she cited as an argument for the jurisdiction of the State Prosecutor’s Office and the Court.
When the investigation was expanded, the company “Romanijaputevi” was also found. More than 300,000 was paid from “Romanijaputevi” to various BAM individuals, such as the aforementioned Esad and Sanjin Avdić, for fictitious legal transactions.
The director of “Romanijaputevi”, Mirko Pandurević, told Sanjin Avdić that he had won a tender for over 2 million BAM and that they needed to withdraw 10 percent in order to hand it over to Nešić, claims prosecutor Jolović.
As prosecutor Bojana Jolović stated, the contact person for the transfer of these funds was Mladen Lučić, owner of the company “Legend”.
The prosecutor explained that Pandurević admitted that he had received an ultimatum from Nešić in 2016 that he had to withdraw 10 percent from the contract. Otherwise, payments would be delayed. She explained that Avdić and Pandurević admitted everything.
During a conversation that was wiretapped during special investigative actions, it was determined that Pandurević said in the office that: “He had to give ten percent, he was not given any of it back, and they are being denied”.
She adds that it is interesting that when the employee of “Romanijaputevi” came to the Prosecutor’s Office for questioning, Lučić and Pandurević met on the same day.
The Prosecutor’s Office believes that Lučić played the role of an accomplice, that he was supposed to find a company through which the money would be extracted and give the money to Nešić. She also cited meetings at the “Espania” hotel in East Sarajevo as evidence.
Jolović explained that Pandurević paid around 250,000 BAM annually, which ultimately leads to a figure of more than 1 million BAM.
The Prosecutor said that the money was left in Nešić’s office, in the parking lot, in cafes, on Jahorina mountain, and all of this was confirmed by Mirko Pandurević.
Dakić and Lučić are being held in the state prison in Vojkovići after the Court of BiH ordered them to be detained for one month, while Nešić remains at the University of Sarajevo Clinical Center due to health problems.
The BiH Prosecutor’s Office previously announced that Nešić, Dakić, Lučić and four other people were arrested on suspicion of corruption-related crimes.
