Mektić pleads not guilty

(Patria) - Former BiH Security Minister and current Member of Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Mektić is entering his plea today at the BiH Court. He is charged with abuse of office and authority.

The indictment, filed by the BiH Prosecutor's Office, also includes former Head of the BiH Security Minister's Cabinet Igor Golijanin, Assistant Minister in the BiH Ministry of Security Samir Agić, and Edin Garaplija as the responsible person and owner of the Institute for Fire and Explosion Protection (INZA) Sarajevo.

According to the indictment, the aforementioned individuals committed the criminal offense of high corruption, which harms the international reputation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, through abuse of office and authority. Various instances of abuse of office or authority by high-ranking state officials and employees in the BiH Ministry of Security were documented during the implementation of the interstate Cross-Border Cooperation Project in the field of firefighting, financed by the Delegation of the European Union to BiH, with a project value of 198,454.51 euros.

The defense of the accused was based on the indictment itself, claiming that the evidence was illegally obtained, and accusations were also heard that this was a fabricated process.