Novalić's request for retrial rejected

(Patria) - The non-trial panel of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina rejected the request of the defense of Fadil Novalić, former Prime Minister of the Federation, for a retrial in which he was sentenced to four years in prison for abuse of office, it was confirmed for BHRT from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The request was filed at the end of May due to alleged new facts, evidence, as well as due to established violations of the human rights of the convicted person and other participants in the proceedings, which directly affect the legality of the verdict.

The Appellate Panel of the State Court at the end of January last year confirmed the verdict by which former federal Prime Minister Fadil Novalić was sentenced to four years, and the former director of the Federal Civil Protection Administration (FUCZ) Fahrudin Solak to a unified sentence of six years in prison for abuses during the procurement of respirators worth 10.5 million marks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Fikret Hodžić was initially sentenced to five years in prison, as was the legal entity “F.H. Srebrena malina”, but their proceedings were reopened before the Appellate Panel of the State Court after the Constitutional Court accepted the appeal and overturned the verdict after establishing a violation of the right to a fair trial.

The Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH rejected the charges against Hodžić and the legal entity “F.H. Srebrena malina” in the second-instance verdict due to formal deficiencies in the proceedings.

Former federal Minister of Finance Jelka Miličević was also charged with Novalić, Solak, and Hodžić, and was finally acquitted of the charge of negligent work in office.