Request to reopen Gaši case rejected, court does not recognize Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office decision

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The judicial panel consisting of Elvira Begović as president, Indira Jahić and Rozita Šimić as members rejected the request of Muhamed Ali Gaši's defense attorneys for a retrial of the criminal proceedings. The request was filed four months ago due to new circumstances, specifically after the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office decision to suspend the investigation against Ljirim Bitići. 

Attorney Senad Kreho, one of Muhamed Ali Gaši's defense attorneys, told Patria that he will file an appeal with the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina against the decision of the Judicial Panel of the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo. 

In its reasoning, the Judicial Panel stated that the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office's Order to suspend the investigation against Ljirim Bitići is a "procedural decision" that is not even final or legally binding, given the possibility of action in accordance with Article 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the FBiH. 

"The circumstance that the Prosecutor's Office's order suspended the proceedings against Bitići Ljirim does not in itself constitute new fact or new evidence for the reopening of proceedings within the meaning of Article 343, Paragraph 1, Point c of the Criminal Procedure Code of the FBiH, because procedural decisions of the Prosecutor's Office cannot interfere with or influence substantive, legally binding court decisions, nor are they suitable evidence to cause the acquittal of a convicted person or their conviction under a milder law, especially considering the nature of the criminal offenses for which Muhamed Ali Gaši was convicted, in relation to which the proceedings against the suspect Bitići Ljirim were suspended," the reasoning states.  

The Cantonal Court considers that the decision to suspend the investigation against Ljirim Bitići is not suitable to cause the acquittal of the convicted person or their conviction under a milder criminal law.   

The reason for filing the request to reopen the proceedings against Gaši was the suspension of the investigation by the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office against Ljirim Bitići on 06/25/2019. The Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo, after a detailed investigation, material evidence, and expert findings, made the decision not to conduct an investigation against Bitići, i.e., it was determined that he was not the person who shot Amir Pašić Faćo on 06/12/2007. Therefore, it is not a procedural decision but clearly established circumstances based on the lack of evidence that Bitići shot Amir Pašić Faćo, and certainly not on Gaši's orders.  

Gaši is accused of multiple criminal offenses, designated as the organizer of a criminal organization, and according to verdict point 10, it states that Bitići is the person who shot and injured Pašić, "incited and in complicity with Muhamed Ali Gaši." During the court proceedings against Gaši and others, Bitići was unavailable to the BiH judiciary. 

The first-instance (06/23/2009) and second-instance verdicts (04/22/2010) also rely on the same evidence. Gaši was convicted of multiple criminal offenses in the first-instance verdict to 20 years in prison, and for the criminal offense of attempted murder alone, he received 14 years in prison. The second-instance verdict sentenced him to a combined prison term of 17 years. 

According to the aforementioned reasoning, the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo does not recognize the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office's decision to suspend the investigation against Bitići, which raises the question of how they recognize, for example, indictments that the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office sends for confirmation, and why the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office's decision is not questioned in those cases.