Lawyer Esad Hrvačić sentenced to one year in prison and banned from practicing law

Lawyer Esad Hrvačić has been sentenced to one year in prison, fined 10,000 marks, banned from practicing law for 18 months, and ordered to forfeit nearly 50,000 marks, after the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo accepted a plea agreement under which he admitted guilt for illegal property registration, BIRN reports, according to the Patria agency.

Before the plea agreement was accepted, prosecutor Sabina Sarajlija stated during closing arguments that sufficient evidence had been gathered to confirm the "accused's intent to commit the criminal offense".

Hrvačić was arrested in February of this year in the "Kurir" operation for illegal property registration. Along with ten other individuals, Hrvačić was indicted in May for association for the purpose of committing criminal offenses, abuse of position or authority, and forgery of an official document.

As previously announced by the Prosecutor's Office, for the illegal registration of their clients' property through the forgery of delivery receipts in the names of the defendants, lawyer Hrvačić conspired with court couriers Zaim Spahović and Muamer Pita, as well as his professional associate Elmina Džina, and they managed to secure the issuance of 18 illegal verdicts.

Indicted alongside Hrvačić are lawyers Ismet Hamzić and Samina Skopak, judge of the Sarajevo Municipal Court Milena Rajić, court employees Tanja Jović, Branka Husanović, Zaim Spahović, Muamer Pita, and Mirsada Alić, as well as Elmina Džina and Pero Vuković. Hrvačić's case was separated upon the signing of the plea agreement.

Prosecutor Sarajlija stated that Hrvačić "knew that fictitious addresses were being entered into lawsuits submitted to the court," and that a graphological examination determined that court delivery receipts were signed in Hrvačić's office.

She added that a graphological examination also determined that Hrvačić sent a letter to Spahović and Džina during his detention, which indicated that the accused was aware of the forged delivery receipts and that by sending the letter to Spahović and Džina, he attempted to coordinate their defenses.

"From the court files and data obtained by the Prosecutor's Office regarding the defendants' addresses, it is evident that the defendants' addresses in the lawsuits were incorrect and that the defendants did not receive court correspondence in those cases," said Sarajlija.

The Prosecutor's Office considered the mitigating circumstances for the accused, namely "the expressed willingness to cooperate with the Prosecutor's Office and the admission of committing the criminal offense at an early stage of the proceedings," stated the prosecutor, adding that Hrvačić is a family man with no prior convictions.

Prosecutor Sarajlija also stated that Elmina Džina also pleaded guilty on Wednesday, August 23.

The injured parties in this case have been referred to civil proceedings.