No hearing yet: Is the BiH Court delaying the "Zubac case"?

An indictment was filed against Goran Zubac, Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) on June 16, and the BiH Court officially announced this news on June 23, writes the Patria news agency. Thus, almost a month has passed since the indictment was confirmed, and a hearing for a plea of guilt has not yet been scheduled.

As we were told by the BiH Court, the deadline for scheduling a hearing for a plea of guilt is 15 days from the date the parties receive the summons.

- We previously issued a statement, so it does not necessarily mean that Mr. Zubac received the indictment on the 23rd. The hearing will be scheduled in due time and the public will be informed – said the BiH Court, but they could not explain why they waited a full seven days to confirm the news that the indictment had been filed.

At the time, they said they could not provide information until all parties in the proceedings received the case file. On the other hand, the BiH Prosecutor's Office says that nothing depends on them, but on the BiH Court.

- I know that hearings for pleas of guilt are scheduled very quickly after the indictment is filed, but let the Court do its job – says Boris Grubešić, spokesperson for the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

Otherwise, an indictment was filed against Zubac for dereliction of duty when, on February 7, he refused to send members of the SIPA Special Unit to the Presidency building, which was set on fire by angry demonstrators.

Furthermore, the fact that there are various political pressures in this case is evidenced by the fact that Zubac has still not been suspended from his position as head of SIPA, because the Independent Board is delaying the matter, although the Law on Police Officers is clear.