The verdict in the ‘Ventilators’ case will be pronounced on April 5 at 9 a.m. in the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The trial ended today in the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the closing arguments of the defense of Fikret Hodžić and Jelka Miličević.
In addition to Fadil Novalić, the FBiH Prime Minister, the suspended FBiH Civil Protection Administration director Fahrudin Solak and the owner of the company “Silver Raspberry ” (Srebrna malina) Fikret Hodžić, as well as the legal entity F.H. Srebrena malina, and the FBiH Minister of Finance Jelka Milićević were accused in that case.
The trial in the case against the FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalić and others in connection with the procurement of 100 Covid ventilators, worth 10,530,000 KM, which for the needs of the FBiH Civil Protection Administration were imported from China by the company “Silver Raspberry ” (Srebrna malina), owned by Fikret Hodžić.
The trial lasted more than two years.
On March 9, the Federal Prime Minister Fadil Novalic said that he does not see the proceedings in which he is being tried for abuses during the importation of respirators as a judicial process, but as a project of a political nature.
“I don’t have an answer as to why we are the only country that initiated procurement procedures during the period of corona. We did what other leaders did,” said Novalic, adding that he did not know why a similar procedure was not initiated in Republika Srpska (RS), nor where the illegal property benefit he acquired was.
His defense attorney, Nina Karacic-Brkovic, assessed in her closing statement that the most striking charge in the indictment is money laundering and that, as she stated, she does not want to think that the prosecutors are claiming that the money from the budget was obtained through a criminal act.
The defense attorney said that the Government was in charge of providing funds for the purchase of respirators, and that Novalicwas not obliged to know what type of respirator it was. She stated that “Srebrena malina” sent offers for the purchase of equipment to other, not only to the Government of the Federation.
Novalic was charged together with the suspended director of the Federal Administration of Civil Protection (FUCZ), Fahrudin Solak, owner of “Srebrena Malina” Fikret Hodzic, as well as the company itself, and Federal Minister of Finance Jelka Milicevic.
Solak’s defense in its closing statement assessed that this case, from a legal point of view, is simple, but that it is unprecedented due to the media and political chase.
According to defense attorney Marsela Bajramovic, the indisputable facts are that respirators were needed, that FUCZ received a request to make the purchase, that the offer of “Srebrena Malina” was the most favorable in terms of price, quantity and delivery time, and that the purchase was realized. She pointed out that Solak did not take any action contrary to the regulations.
