Justice Directed by Power: Why is Fikret Hodžić Still Being Tried Without a Trial?

(Patria) - There is a sentence from Orwell's literature that, although written as fiction, increasingly describes reality: "Some are more equal than others." In BiH, this applies not only to the privileged, but also to the persecuted. Fikret Hodžić is today the face of a very unpleasant truth: in this country, you don't have to be proven guilty to be punished; it's enough to be a target.

First, he was tried for an act for which, according to the Constitutional Court of BiH, he was not even charged. After that court clearly established a serious violation of the right to a fair trial, Hodžić was acquitted. But not on the merits, not because someone finally said "not guilty," but because the judicial institutions stumbled over their own mistakes.

But the story doesn't end there. Despite his justice having already been seriously violated once, the system is still looking for a way to "somehow" convict him. Instead of withdrawing and accepting responsibility for procedural failures, the BiH Prosecutor's Office is now transferring the case to the entity level, the federal POSKOK.

Without new evidence. Without a new investigation. Without explanation.

Even more absurd is that the BiH Court is rejecting Hodžić's request for the return of money (781,000 KM) that was frozen during the previous proceedings. Why? Because "the procedure is not finished." Therefore, there is no verdict of his guilt, but his assets are still being seized. On what grounds? The logic of force, not law.

What is most concerning is not just the fact that the case has been transferred, but the context and continuity; it all looks like a planned continuation of institutional pressure. Fikret Hodžić, despite the procedurally acquitting decision, still remains guilty in the eyes of a system that clearly knows no other way than to punish once it "points the finger," even if the punishment is fabricated.

And the public? Confused. The media? Mostly blind or obedient. No one asks what really happened? Who is responsible for the judicial fiasco? Why has no one from the BiH Prosecutor's Office faced consequences?

Because if someone serves part of a sentence for something they were never formally charged with, and the system calls it a "procedural error," then the system is sickeningly confident in its untouchability.

This is not about saving one man. It's about fighting for the basics: that in this country, the difference between a verdict and persecution is known. That someone's name, family, and job are not destroyed because someone in the prosecutor's office decided "someone has to fall."

In Fikret Hodžić's case, everything smells of one thing: the state cannot bear to have lost the case, so it is trying to forcibly correct its shame – on his back.

And that is not justice. That is repression in gloves. And all those who remain silent today will perhaps tomorrow ask for a voice when someone calls them "guilty without evidence."

(A.Č.Z.)