BiH Court decision on detention by 4 PM, Novalić refuses food and water

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - BiH Court judge Tatjana Kosović is expected to make a decision by 4 PM on the BiH Prosecutor's Office's motion to order 30-day detention for Prime Minister Fadil Novalić, suspended director of the Federal Civil Protection Administration Fahrudin Solak, and Srebrena malina director Fikret Hodžić, who are suspected of several criminal offenses related to the procurement of 100 Chinese ventilators paid for with 10.5 million KM.

At the hearing, which lasted a full seven hours, both the prosecution team consisting of Džermin Pašić, Mirza Hukeljić, and Merisa Nurkić, and the defense of the suspects presented arguments for why detention should be ordered or why the Court should reject such a motion. 

Prime Minister Novalić himself addressed the hearing, saying that the only thing missing was "for them to say that we also imported the pandemic from China".

"My lawyers are right, who noticed me from the international community and told me: 'Come on, kid', literally, Valentin Inzko told me that. They told me to do at the federal level what I did in the companies where I was director, when I was managing even two billion KM, not to deal with 10 million now. The Prosecutor's Office has shown ignorance of the work of the FBiH Government. What they are saying is not true, as Newton said, 'something that has not happened cannot be described'," said Novalić, adding that the arrest of a prime minister is a coup d'état.

He stated that he had not eaten or drunk anything since Thursday, and that he would sentence himself if what the prosecutors were saying was true. 

Judge Kosović asked the prime minister to take food and water anyway.