Energopetrol case collapses: Defeat for the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office, citizens pay high court costs

- From the beginning of the case, I said this was a process against a person, not an act, and I think someone should finally tell the public who needed this process and who needed these people and these names in the process, said Nedžad Branković, former Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, acquitted of charges of dereliction of duty.

The Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office accused him of failing to initiate an initiative to engage an auditing firm, which was supposed to prepare a final report on the investment, so the Government could not activate the consortium's bank guarantees in a timely manner. Although encouraged by the first-instance verdict, Branković did not want to say who he was referring to when he said "who needed this process".

- I don't know, there is investigative journalism, you should do that. My job was to endure all this, dedicate myself to my family, my business, and see what's next - said Branković.

We remind you that the Municipal Court in Sarajevo today acquitted Nedžad Branković, former Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Namik Bušatlić, former director of "Energopetrol" Sarajevo, and seven members of the Commission for the Implementation of the Tender for the recapitalization of "Energopetrol" due to suspected irregularities in the recapitalization of this Sarajevo oil company.

Branković was accused of dereliction of duty, Bušatlić of concluding a harmful contract as a direct perpetrator, and the president and members of the Commission (Kasema Ćatović, and Mirko Puljić, Sead Kreso, Ahmed Žilić, Anka Šešlija, Alma Haseta and Safet Proho) were accused of concluding a harmful contract as accomplices.

All court costs will be borne by the budget, for which Fahrija Karkin, the lawyer of the second accused Ahmed Žilić, blames the Prosecutor's Office. The trial lasted almost four years, and the amount of costs cannot be precisely determined at this time.

- I will appeal the acquittal for lawyer Žilić, I am not satisfied with the verdict because there was no basis for him to be prosecuted as a lawyer at all. He was prosecuted for an opinion. We will appeal the acquittal and ask the second-instance court to issue a rejection verdict. The costs are huge, 70 hearings times 10 lawyers, do you know what those costs are, plus expert witness costs, plus judge's salaries, all these are huge costs. The prosecutor will not feel it, because there is no responsibility for him, neither with such a verdict nor any other. From the beginning, when the expert witness Abid Hodžić's report was rejected, it was clear that the report could not be the basis for a conviction. The report is not based on material evidence - added Karkin.

Ahmed Žilić confirmed that he would appeal, but emphasized that this process proves that BiH is a police state.

- As the second accused, I will appeal, because this trial should not have happened in the first place when it comes to a lawyer - said Žilić.

Namik Bušatlić said that he received satisfaction with this verdict and congratulated the Court.

- I had a burden, pressure, just like everyone who sat with me in the defendant's dock. We have been friends for almost four years - said Bušatlić. 

The prosecutor in this case, Sabina Sarajlija, did not give statements to the public, nor did the Prosecutor's Office state whether it would appeal the first-instance verdict.