Jahić: Čampara must stop using Novalić as a 'lifeline'

(Patria) - There is little that former FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalić did not experience during his eight-year term in office. As is known, he was ultimately sentenced to four years in prison in the Respirators case. The entire media machinery was involved during this process, and a decision by the Constitutional Court of BiH is currently awaited on Novalić's appeal, as well as those of others in this case, Fikret Hodžić and Fahrudin Solak.

However, current politicians in BiH frequently mention Novalić, often in a way that they wash their own (mis)deeds by invoking Fadil Novalić.

The latest such example is the statement of Aljoša Čampara, a delegate in the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament and former Minister of Interior in the FBiH Government.

Elmir Jahić, Fadil Novalić's lawyer, tells Patria that he has noticed a phenomenon in daily political events where current politicians very often think in a 'catch the thief' manner.

„Fadil is serving his sentence, and everything that is wrong and where there is a basis for suspicion of anything, Fadil is guilty. It cannot be that way,“ said Jahić, adding that it should first be discussed that the Government was never Fadil's.

„It is known how the FBiH Government is formed, and politicians who recently, groundlessly and maliciously, refer to Mr. Novalić must know that they too were members of that Government. The latest such stories came from Aljoša Čampara. In his, justified or unjustified, reaction, he spoke about public procurement, including the company that Čampara mentions,“ says Jahić.

Incidentally, it was reported that Čampara signed a contract between the FMUP and Foto Art, a company run by Gordan Memija, who was arrested for connections with Edin Gačanin, a convicted drug lord. After that, Čampara said 'it should also be noted that Foto Art is a company that does business with public authorities and that, in addition to the FMUP, it also concluded contracts with numerous other bodies such as the Service for Joint Affairs of FBiH Bodies and Institutions, as well as the FBiH Environmental Protection Fund, and that during the time when Fadil Novalić was prime minister.'

„Also, with the Hadžići Municipality, where the SDA holds the position of mayor, the FBiH Development Bank during Novalić's mandate, and numerous other institutions,“ stated Čampara.

However, Jahić warns that according to the Law on Civil Service and the Law on the Organization of Administrative Bodies, Articles 56, 57 and 58, as well as the Budget Law and the Law on Budget Execution, former Prime Minister Novalić nor his cabinet are budget beneficiaries, nor can they, nor do they have any authority over public procurement procedures.

So in that context, Čampara's reference to Novalić is inappropriate, because the former minister must have known exactly what I am talking about, and given that he is a lawyer, he knows it, but at the same time he also knows the motive for unnecessarily and groundlessly dragging Novalić into this story,“ said Jahić.

He added that the other institutions Čampara mentions are legal entities and have legal representatives.

„Then he should say who the legal representatives of those institutions are. If it is the Development Bank, then it is known who the Assembly of the Development Bank is, and then he, as a member of the Government, was a member of the Assembly, not just the prime minister. The FBiH Government constitutes the Assembly of the FBiH Development Bank. If he mentions the Environmental Protection Fund, there was a director there. I do not want to mention the political affiliations of the legal representatives.

We are witnesses that everything that is studied and prescribed through legal legislation was violated in Novalić's case, and of course my reaction to Čampara's statements is justified. He must stop using Novalić as a 'lifeline' in his public appearances. Let him save himself, let him do what he wants, but let him stop mentioning Novalić for daily political purposes and during some squabbles,“ emphasized Jahić.

(A.Č.Z.)