Final Court Ruling by the Court of BiH: Prison Sentences Confirmed for Novalić, Hodžić, and Solak, Jelka Miličević Acquitted

(Patria) - The Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH has confirmed the first-instance verdict in the "Respirators" case, Istraga.ba has learned from multiple sources. This means that former FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalić, former director of the Federal Civil Protection Administration Fahrudin Solak, and the founder of the company "Srebrna malina" have been finally sentenced to prison terms.

Let us recall, in May last year, the first-instance court panel sentenced Novalić to four years in prison, Fikret Hodžić to five, and Fahrudin Solak to six years in prison. These sentences, as Istraga.ba has learned, have been fully confirmed.

All of them were found guilty of unlawful conduct during the procurement of respirators during the coronavirus pandemic.

The verdict stated that the accused Fadil Novalić, Fahrudin Solak, Fikret Hodžić were found guilty, and the legal entity "F.H. Srebrena malina" d.o.o. Sućeska, Srebrenica, represented by the responsible person, the third accused Fikret Hodžić, was found responsible that by the actions described in the conviction part of the verdict, they committed the prolonged criminal offense of abuse of position or authority under Article 383 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of BiH (KZFBiH), and the accused Fahrudin Solak also committed the criminal offense of forgery of an official document under Article 389 of the same Law.

The court imposed the following sentences on the accused for the aforementioned criminal offenses:

Fadil Novalić a prison sentence of four (4) years. The time during which he was deprived of liberty from May 29, 2020, to May 31, 2020, shall be included in the imposed prison sentence;

Fahrudin Solak for the committed prolonged criminal offense of abuse of position or authority under Article 383 of KZFBiH, determined a prison sentence of five (5) years, and for the criminal offense of forgery of an official document under Article 389 of KZFBiH, determined a prison sentence of one (1) year and six (6) months, after which a unified prison sentence of six (6) years was imposed on the accused Fahrudin Solak. The time during which he was deprived of liberty from May 28, 2020, to May 31, 2020, shall be included in the imposed prison sentence;

Fikret Hodžić a prison sentence of five (5) years. The time during which he was deprived of liberty from May 28, 2020, to May 31, 2020, shall be included in the imposed prison sentence;

The legal entity "F.H. Srebrena malina" d.o.o. Sućeska, Srebrenica a fine in the amount of 200,000.00 KM.

From the accused Fikret Hodžić and the legal entity "F.H. Srebrena malina" d.o.o., Sućeska, Srebrenica, the property benefit acquired by committing the criminal offense in the amount of 694,747.78 KM shall be confiscated, of which an amount of 87,000.00 KM was temporarily confiscated based on the certificate of temporary confiscation of items by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton.

The court imposed a security measure of confiscation of items used for the commission of the criminal offense on the accused Fadil Novalić and Fikret Hodžić, as stated in the verdict.

The former HDZ minister of finance in the FBiH Government, Jelka Miličević, has been finally acquitted of all charges.

During the delivery of the first-instance verdict, a member of the court panel, judge Branko Perić, recused himself, stating that the accused were not guilty. Subsequently, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him, which were suspended because judge Perić retired.

After completing his term as prime minister, Fadil Novalić remained in the benches of the House of Representatives of the FBiH, where he was elected in the 2022 elections. At the SDA Congress, he was elected vice-president of that party. Now, after being handed down a final prison sentence, Novalić will lose his mandate in the FBiH Parliament.