In the Sarajevo Municipal Court, a plea hearing was held in the “Abdulah Skaka and others” case, where the defendants pleaded not guilty.
The court proceedings are being conducted against Abdulah Skaka, Amela Kolovrat, Faris Fočo and Hasan Mrkonja, and they all pleaded not guilty in court today.
Accused Dženela Kacila previously reached a plea agreement with the prosecution.
We will remind you that the first defendant in this case, Abdulah Skaka, was arrested on May 23 of this year as part of the “Visionary” operation, which was carried out by police officers of the MUP of Sarajevo Canton.
It is about an action that was carried out due to the suspicion of committing several criminal acts, among other things – abuse of position, unscrupulous work in the service, forgery of an official document, giving a gift and other forms of benefit.
Skaka was charged with the criminal offenses of abuse of position or authority, negligent work in the service, falsification of an official document, giving a gift and other forms of benefit and violation of the equality of man and citizen.
Amela Kolovrat was charged with the criminal offenses of abuse of position or authority, negligent work in the service and falsification of an official document.
Džanela Kacila was charged with the criminal offense of fraud in obtaining credit or other benefits and forging an official document, while Faris Fočo and Hasan Mrkonja were charged with the criminal offense of fraud in obtaining credit or other benefits.
More crimes
Abdulah Skaka was accused of several criminal-legal acts during his term as mayor of Sarajevo. Therefore, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Canton Sarajevo accuses him of illegally employing four advisers who were initially employed in the municipality of Trnovo in 2017, only to be appointed by Skaka as his advisers after 24 hours.
Skaka was also accused of illegally spending money from the city budget. Namely, he gave grant funds to non-governmental organizations close to him, in which members of his family were engaged.
He, with the help of the accused Amela Kolovrat, the former assistant for finances and budget of the city, who prepared certain documents and failed to react when the city finance department found irregularities, allocated money from the budget to the non-governmental organizations “MTBA” from Mostar, “BIMA” and “Bedem” “, more precisely, to their presidents Dzanela Kacila, Faris Fočo and Hasan Mrkonja.
The accused presidents of non-governmental organizations illegally justified the spent money in the amount of 48,000 BAM.
In the part of the indictment that refers to the violation of electoral integrity, Abdulah Skaka is also accused of promising various benefits, including money to councilors, ahead of the election of the chairman of the City Council and the mayor to vote according to his instructions, all so that Bogić Bogićević could not be elected mayor of Sarajevo, that is, so that the accused Skaka could run and be elected for a second term in that position.
Proposed hearing of 81 witnesses
He was also accused of falsifying financial statements in which he did not show the donations the city received.
He also directed money from the budget that was intended for the returnee population for the construction of lighting in the Rajski Do cottage settlement in the municipality of Trnovo, where his cottage is also located.
He is also accused of abuse of public procurement related to the implementation of the Formula E car project. By committing the aforementioned criminal acts, according to the indictment, the accused Skaka caused damage to the budget of the City of Sarajevo in the total amount of 116,000 BAM.
Acting prosecutors proposed in the indictment that Abulah Skaka be prohibited from performing the duties of a responsible person in the civil service, public enterprises or any other legal entity for a period of 10 years from the date of finality of the verdict.
Also, the accused Amela Kolovrat, Džanala Kacila, Faris Fočo and Hasan Mrkonja are prohibited from performing work in accounting, auditing, associations and foundations for a period of five years from the finality of the verdict.
For the main trial, it was proposed to hear 81 witnesses, eight experts in the field of electric power, construction and economics, and an expert in the field of criminology.
More than 600 pieces of material evidence were proposed, Klix.ba reports.
