Avdibegović Confirmed for NAP: Defense of Fikret Hodžić Files Appeal with the Constitutional Court of BiH

(Patria) - The defense of Fikret Hodžić, owner of the company "Srebrena malina" and sentenced to five years in prison in the "Respirators" case, filed an appeal today with the Constitutional Court of BiH.

This information was confirmed to Patria by his attorney Mirna Avdibegović, who stated in an interview with Faktor that the rule of law has been jeopardized in this case, not only regarding Hodžić but also generally for citizens.

And if this becomes established as judicial practice, Avdibegović emphasizes, then there is no longer any legal certainty. The attorney explains that the appeal points out all violations committed during the rendering of verdicts before the Court of BiH.

- The most important ones I can single out are the violation of the right to a fair trial due to the fact that Hodžić was finally convicted of a criminal offense that, by its legal qualification, was never charged against him in the indictment, namely abuse of office or authority under Article 383 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of BiH.

In doing so, the factual description was altered in a way that was also never charged against him - stated Avdibegović.

The defense believes these are key violations because Hodžić could never defend himself against such allegations before a regular court, especially in terms of presenting evidence and examining witnesses, as well as presenting arguments regarding the elements of that criminal offense.

- His first knowledge of this qualification and the altered facts came with the pronouncement of the first-instance verdict.

In doing so, the regular court did not carry out a reclassification in accordance with Article 280, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH, because it simultaneously acquitted Hodžić under the same factual description for all criminal offenses for which the Prosecutor's Office charged him, and convicted him for a completely new criminal offense, which is not even of the same type as the offenses for which the Prosecutor's Office charged him.

Another violation we pointed out through the appeal is that in this specific case, a reclassification could not have been carried out at all, because the factual description of the actions of the offense charged against Hodžić through the confirmed indictment does not contain any element of the criminal offense of abuse of office or authority under Article 383 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of BiH.

The verdicts contain no explanation regarding all of this, and that is one of the basic rights of every citizen in proceedings before a court. All that is stated is that the evidence, as the second-instance verdict says, implies the responsibility of Fikret Hodžić.

This is not a standard of proof, because it is required that facts be established beyond a reasonable doubt and that each action charged against the defendant be specified.

And not only that, but during the conviction of Hodžić, an impermissible combination of two criminal codes was carried out, because he was convicted under the Criminal Code of the Federation of BiH for the criminal offense of abuse of office or authority, while the Court of BiH applied the provision of the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska to the key element of this criminal offense, which is absolutely impermissible - concluded Avdibegović in her statement to Faktor.