Sarajevo Cantonal Court Rejects Prosecution's Appeal: Judge Azra Miletić Acquitted of Charges

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Sarajevo Cantonal Court has upheld the verdict of the Sarajevo Municipal Court acquitting judge Azra Miletić of charges of accepting bribes and violating the law as a judge, confirmed her defense attorney Jesenka Rešidović to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH).

"The appeal of the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office has been rejected as unfounded, and the first-instance verdict has been upheld," Rešidović stated.

The first-instance verdict of the Sarajevo Municipal Court, dated January 21, 2021, acquitted Miletić of charges that during 2014 and 2015, she accepted a promised bribe and 5,000 euros in order to issue a more favorable verdict in a case where she served as a judge in the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH.

As stated in the indictment, S-1, acting as an intermediary, contacted Rama Brkić and Senad Šabić, who were at the time on trial for organized crime, unauthorized drug trafficking, and other offenses. Miletić was supposed to acquit Brkić and Šabić or reduce their sentences in exchange for the promised bribe.

Furthermore, it was not proven that Miletić violated the Criminal Procedure Code (ZKP) while acting as a judge in the Appellate Division.

In April 2018, the Appellate Council of the Court of BiH issued a decision overturning the first-instance verdict by which Miletić had been sentenced to two and a half years in prison, and the further proceedings were transferred to the Sarajevo Municipal Court.

At the appellate hearing at the Sarajevo Cantonal Court in early October this year, the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office requested the acquittal verdict be overturned due to significant violations of criminal procedure provisions and an erroneous or incomplete determination of facts, while the Defense proposed that the appeal be rejected as unfounded.

There is no possibility of appeal against this verdict.