Fadil Novalić's legal team: Konaković's illegal pressure on the Constitutional Court of BiH and the right to a fair trial

(Patria) - Fadil Novalić's legal team issued a press release after the president of NIP and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH, Elmedin Konaković, announced a public reading for next week of the verdict in the Novalić and others case. We are transmitting the reaction signed by lawyers Senad Pećanin and Elmir Jahić in its entirety.

"In accordance with his education, the way he obtained his diploma from the Faculty of Sports at the University of Sarajevo, and his legal knowledge, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, has once again shown his devastating lack of understanding of the rule of law and the principles of a legal state. After recently abusing his position and the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH for a press conference at which he brutally attacked judicial and investigative bodies, as well as journalists and the media, while protecting his godfather who was arrested due to an investigation into connections with one of the most powerful drug cartels in the world, Minister Konaković has gone a step further: he announced a new press conference and his analysis of the verdict against former Prime Minister Fadil Novalić.

He did this knowing that proceedings are underway before the Constitutional Court of BiH on an appeal against the aforementioned verdict, thereby in the most brutal way, as the holder of one of the most important executive functions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, exerted pressure on the court.

We remind the public that such conduct by Minister Konaković represents illegal and unacceptable pressure on the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in accordance with Article 6, paragraph 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. His latest brutal pressure on the court represents a continuation of illegal interference in the work of the judiciary, revealed during the investigation and court proceedings against Mr. Novalić, when the public was also informed about the "Media Plan" of the political party whose president is Minister Konaković. We remind you that the aforementioned plan detailed the mechanism for spreading lies and disinformation about Mr. Novalić.

Unfortunately, the implementation of the aforementioned plan also led to an illegal verdict against Mr. Novalić. The president of the judicial panel that delivered the verdict in the first-instance court proceedings also expressed a dissenting opinion regarding both the indictment and the legality of the verdict, stating, among other things: "The prosecutor presented us with a series of low-probability indications from which he constructed a case of association for the purpose of acquiring property benefits in an unknown amount to be divided at the end of the respirator procurement. We agreed that there is no evidence for such a construction. (...) From the evidence presented, it can be reasonably concluded that the accused Novalić did nothing that exceeded the authority of the Prime Minister during the pandemic and the declaration of a state of emergency. He did nothing that prime ministers of all countries did not do during the epidemic."

Minister Konaković, despite clear warnings from both the professional public and international representatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, continues to abuse his ministerial position and his party to exert pressure on investigative bodies and the court. We are convinced that the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, having already recognized this by the public in Bosnia and Herzegovina, will realize that, for the umpteenth time, this is a brutal attack by Minister Konaković on the independence of the court and a violation of the right of every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina to a fair trial," the statement reads.