The defense of the former Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina Selma Cikotić has announced the filing of an appeal against the first-instance verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by which he was sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of office, which damaged the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina by about 9.7 million BAM.
“This is only a first-instance verdict, we’ll see how the Court of Appeal will decide,” Cikotić’s lawyer Fahrudin Ibrišimović told reporters, and assessed that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the “wrong track”.
When asked by a journalist to explain what he means when he says “on the wrong track”, Ibrišimović stated that he believes that there was no evidence.
“It’s only a first-instance verdict, we don’t agree,” said Ibrišimović.
When asked if this means that Cikotić did not know that he was causing damage to the BiH budget, Ibrišimović asked a counter-question about who signed the four annexes to the contract, and stated that the indictment states that his client worked in agreement with some known and unknown persons.
“During the trial, we did not hear who the known and unknown persons were,” said Ibrišimović.
Former Minister of Defense in the Council of Ministers Selmo Cikotić was sentenced today in the first instance before the Court of BiH to three years in prison for abuse of office, which damaged the budget of BiH by about 9.7 million BAM.
Cikotić is accused of using his official position and favoring the company “Scout” from Zagreb, in agreement with other persons, with the aim of obtaining benefits, from October 30, 2009 to July 12, 2011.
The indictment charges him that, contrary to the agreement on the final disposition of all rights and obligations over movable property from 2008 and the decisions of the BiH Presidency, he made and signed two decisions approving the delivery, i.e. exchange of goods, and four decisions on the delivery of ammunition.
According to the indictment, he concluded four annexes to the basic contracts on the sale of non-perspective weapons and ammunition concluded in 2003 and 2004.
