The municipal court in Sarajevo today handed down the first-instance verdicts at the trial for abuse of position during employment in public companies to former high-ranking officials of the SDA, Amir Zukic, Asim Sarajlic, and five other defendants in the “Bosna” case.
Amir Zukic was sentenced to three years in prison by the first-instance verdict, and Asim Sarajlic was acquitted.
Defendant Safet Bibic was sentenced to six years in prison, Senad Trako to one year and six months, Ramiz Karavdic to two years, and Esed Dzananovic to three years. Nedzad Trako was acquitted. There is a possibility of appeal against the first-instance verdict.
The United States of America previously put Amir Zukic and Asim Sarajlic on a black list for corruption.
The Municipal Court in Sarajevo passed the first-instance verdict after the main trial in this case ended at the beginning of July, with the presentation of the closing arguments of the defense of Esed Dzananovic and Asim Sarajlic, whose lawyers requested acquittals for them.
The Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office in Sarajevo then requested that Amir Zukic, Asim Sarajlic and five other defendants be convicted of abuses committed in 2016 during employment in public enterprises based on party ties and giving money.
The prosecution assessed that it had previously proven the responsibility of Zukic, Sarajlic, as well as Safet Bibic, Senad and Nedzad Traka, Ramiz Karavdic and Esed Dzananovic for illegal employment mediation, abuse of position and receiving a reward or other form of benefit for influence peddling.
Prosecutor Ena Bahtijarevic-Alagic claimed that the influence peddling of Zukic and Sarajlic as high-ranking officials of the Democratic Action Party (SDA) and prominent figures on the political scene was proven.
What were the accused charged with?
According to the indictment, during 2016, Zukic and Bibic organized a group joined by Nedzad and Senad Trako and Karavdic, who found people willing to give money for employment in branches of “Elektrodistribucija” at “Elektroprivreda BiH”. After that, according to the indictment, using their influence, they implemented illegal employment in “Elektroprivreda” through Esed Dzananovic.
The indictment charged Sarajlic and Mirsad Kukic with receiving a reward or other form of benefit for influence peddling, and Seid Fazlagic with helping the perpetrator after the crime was committed, while Zukic was also charged with illegal possession of weapons.
The case against Kukic was separated in 2017 due to his health condition, and he was sentenced to one year in prison at the end of 2020 for receiving a reward or other form of benefit for influence peddling.
In April of this year, Kukic’s defense appealed against the first-instance verdict, asking for an acquittal or returning the case for a retrial, Detektor.ba wrote.
Fazlagic, who was Amir Zukic’s driver, entered into a plea agreement with the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office in Sarajevo and was sentenced to eight months in prison for helping the perpetrator after the crime had been committed.
The trial of Zukic and the others began in May 2017, and in the closing arguments, the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office requested a guilty verdict stating that the defendants’ responsibility had been proven, while their defenses requested an acquittal.
Amir Zukic was the general secretary of the SDA, and the party disowned him after this affair. Asim Sarajlic was the vice-president of the SDA until March 2020, when he resigned from all functions in the party after the publication of a recording that casts doubt on the regularity of the elections for the leadership of the Cantonal Committee of the SDA in Sarajevo. He is still a delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament, Klix.ba writes.
