The Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of Tuzla Canton filed an indictment against 7 persons in the case related to the fire at the Tuzla Retirement Home.
The indictment is filed against the former director Mirsad Bakalović (50), Zinaida Razić Halilović (47), head of a department at the Home and who, on the director’s orders, de facto carried out the organisation of work and employee scheduling, as well as the duties of a member of the Management Board, and against Mustafa Azabagić (67), who served as the fire protection and occupational health and safety officer at the Home. The indictment was also filed against three responsible persons from the company “Inproz” Tuzla, acting as an expert team during the drafting of the “Fire Risk Assessment” for the Tuzla Retirement Home from 2021: Nedim Džambić (70), Mirsad Zukančić (69) and Jasmin Softić (37), including Ibrahim Sarajlić (56), a fire protection inspector at the Cantonal Civil Protection Administration of Tuzla Canton.
Serious Criminal Offences
“They are charged with having committed the criminal offence of Serious Crimes against General Public Safety of Persons and Property in connection with causing General Danger, in the period from April 2021 to November 4, 2025. Bakalović is also charged with the continued criminal offence of Abuse of Office and Official Authority. All seven accused, within their prescribed authorities and duties, contrary to statutory and regulatory acts and standards related to fire and social protection, failed to secure, propose, or order the prescribed fire protection and general safety measures for the residents, although they knew it was a high-risk facility classified under the first category of fire risk and housing particularly vulnerable categories of residents (where 180 elderly residents were accommodated, 110 of whom were severely ill, immobile, or persons with disabilities),” stated the Prosecution of Tuzla Canton.
No Constant Supervision, Fire Protection
As a result of such oversight, the indictment added, the obligatory security measures were not conducted in the facility, which is why there was no established constant supervision over immobile and mobility-impaired persons, as well as proper accommodation and placement of residents in accordance with their health condition and mobility. Furthermore, an adequate fire prevention and general fire protection system was not established.
“This disabled: timely detection and localisation of the fire, timely evacuation of residents, early detection and alarm of fire and carbon monoxide in residents’ rooms, smoke and heat extraction from the facility, constant tracking and monitoring of the fire alarm system, professional response by the receptionist, establishment and implementation of continuous and effective care regarding the fire protection measures and updating of the fire risk assessment,” it was emphasised.
Death of 15 Persons
The indictment stated that these oversights resulted in endangering the safety of a large number of people, and when fire broke out in one of the residents’ rooms on November 4, 2025, which started to spread quickly, it caused the death of 15 residents of the Tuzla Retirement Home (autopsy findings confirm a direct causal link between carbon-monoxide suffocation or other complications for 15 elderly residents), who, due to their health condition, were not able to protect themselves alone or evacuate, and more than 30 people were injured.
“Therefore, as official and responsible people, by failing to install the prescribed fire protection devices, and by not acting according to regulations or technical rules on protective measures, they caused a danger to human lives, which resulted in the death of multiple persons,” the indictment states.
Ban on Holding Positions Requested
The indictment was submitted to the Cantonal Court Tuzla for confirmation and is supported by extensive evidence, including about 1,000 different pieces of physical evidence and documentation, including multiple expert evaluations by teams of experts in fire protection, occupational safety, architecture and construction, electrical engineering, and forensic medicine.
The indictment proposed that the court impose protective measures on all defendants, banning them from holding functions, positions, or performing activities for a period of 10 years, as announced by the Prosecution of Tuzla Canton.
