Novalić and Others: Witness Corrects Statements About Jelka Milićević

(Patria) - At the trial for abuses in the procurement of respirators, witness Sanita Alagić, in the continuation of her testimony, deviated from her earlier statement in which she claimed that the accused Jelka Milićević said at the session of the Federal Civil Protection Headquarters on April 1 last year that a supplier had been found for 100 respirators.

In the cross-examination by Milićević's defense, Alagić, who is the assistant director of the Federal Civil Protection Administration (FUCZ), said that Milićević did not mention respirators at the session, but that she told her afterwards that a request for allocation of funds from the budget reserve for the procurement needed to be prepared.

“Not at the session, everything happened afterwards,” the witness said.

At the insistence of defense attorney Senka Nožica to say whether Milićević mentioned respirators, Alagić said she could not remember, that is, she did not know whether the accused specified medical equipment or respirators.

Milićević, the federal Minister of Finance and commander of the Headquarters, is charged with negligent work in service. She is being tried alongside federal Prime Minister Fadil Novalić, suspended FUCZ director Fahrudin Solak, and director of the company “F.H. Srebrena malina” Fikret Hodžić, as well as the company itself.

The defense presented a statement from the investigation in which witness Alagić, when asked by prosecutors whether Milićević had knowledge that funds were being allocated for respirators, said that she knew, but that Milićević and other members of the Headquarters should be asked whether they did.

“I did not mention it in the investigation, because the prosecutors insisted that I say the name Jelka. They were banging their fists on the table: ‘Say the name Jelka, so we can go arrest her now.’ That’s why I distanced myself,” Alagić explained.

She added that she told the truth at the trial, that she informed Milićević that a request for allocation of funds from the reserve needed to be submitted.

Nožica also addressed the witness's claims that at the Headquarters session on April 25, a proposal by the then director of the Institute for Public Health, Davor Pehar, was discussed, presenting her with the minutes from the session in which it was noted that he was not present.

Alagić said she saw that he was not present, but that Pehar had submitted a plan and that it was discussed in the director's office.

The witness maintained her position that sessions were scheduled in the same way even after the number of members was reduced. Nožica presented a decree on the amendment stating that the commander of the Headquarters (Milićević) schedules a session at the request of the chief of the Headquarters (Solak).

“Before March 25, she could schedule sessions on her own, and after that she could not without the chief,” Nožica said, to which Alagić said she could not interpret the provisions.

When prosecutor Mirza Hukeljić asked her questions regarding the latest change in her statement concerning Milićević, Alagić said that the accused, after the session, informed her and the chief that funds needed to be allocated for the procurement of “respirators.”

Prosecutor Hukeljić asked the witness to explain how, in the investigation, she did not want to mention Milićević despite the alleged banging of fists on the table by the prosecutors, while for numerous other claims in her statement she asserted they were the result of pressure.

Alagić did not answer this question even though the prosecutor repeated it several times, and the presiding judge of the Panel, Džemila Begović, tried to clarify. Instead of answering why she did not succumb to the influence of the prosecutors only regarding the statements about Milićević, the witness spoke about the events at the sessions. Alagić's examination was concluded at today's, the fifth hearing of her testimony.

Panel member Branko Perić said he had trouble understanding which facts the Prosecution and Milićević's defense are proving. When asked whether the Defense claims that Milićević did not know about the purchase of respirators, Nožica commented on the periods mentioned in the indictment in that regard, while Hukeljić said that the indictment states what the Prosecution claims.

“We all knew about the story about respirators, but those who should have known did not,” Perić commented.

Solak's defense attorney Marsela Bajramović requested to speak without the presence of the public regarding a certain submission that had arrived, but the presiding judge told her she could do so in writing, noting that it was more of an information than a submission.

The trial continues on November 24.