Hodžić: Lipovača is released from custody, no special restrictive measures

Hamdija Lipovača, Prime Minister of the Una-Sana Canton, will be released from custody tonight, reports the Patria News Agency.

Although the Una-Sana Canton Prosecutor's Office requested that Hamdija Lipovača's custody be extended for 60 days, the Cantonal Court in Bihać rejected this and issued its decision explaining why there are no legal grounds to keep Lipovača in custody any longer.

Otherwise, Lipovača is suspected of having damaged the municipal budget by several hundred thousand marks as the mayor of the Municipality of Bihać.

He allegedly signed an official document in 2007 on behalf of the Municipality, entering incorrect data about the execution of additional works with the same date but a different monetary amount, in order to obtain unlawful property benefits for the contractor - the Bihać company Agra.

As confirmed to Patria by Lipovača's lawyer Salih Hodžić, his release is expected in the evening hours.

- The court stated in its decision that the Prosecutor's Office did not have sufficient evidence for the allegations on the basis of which they requested the extension of custody for 60 days. The decision also does not include any special prohibitions for Mr. Lipovača, such as travel bans and the like - says Hodžić.