FIRST-INSTANCE VERDICT Doctors Rožajac, Jovanović and Halimić-Alajbegović convicted for the death of little girl Džena Gadžun!

(Patria) - The Council of the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo, presided over by judge Indira Jahić, has issued a first-instance verdict for the doctors accused of causing the death of two-and-a-half-year-old Džena Gadžun from Bilješevo near Kakanj. The court issued a guilty verdict.

The accused did not attend the pronouncement of the verdict.

Suad Rožajac was charged with a serious criminal offense against human health and the criminal offense of negligent treatment. Rožajac was sentenced to 10 years in prison, writes Faktor.

The maximum penalty for the criminal offense he was charged with is 12 years.
Ophthalmologists Nina Jovanović and Jasmina Halimić-Alajbegović were charged with the criminal offense of abuse of position or authority. Jovanović was sentenced to four and a half years, and Halimić-Alajbegović to three years in prison. The maximum penalty for the criminal offenses for which Jovanović and Halimić-Alajbegović were charged is five years in prison.

The Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo stated in its closing arguments that the evidence presented indicated that the anesthesiologist Rožajac, who led the surgical team, was responsible for the failures that led to the deterioration of the child's condition and death.

According to the Prosecution, he apparently used an inappropriate anesthetic agent and failed to notice the signs of the child's deteriorating condition in a timely manner because he failed to attach electrodes to monitor the child's vital signs. All of this led to severe hypoxia, which resulted in the child's death six days after the surgery.

According to the prosecutor, Dr. Jovanović created the impression of urgency for the surgery in her communication with the parents. Jovanović also did not have a license to practice in the Canton of Sarajevo, and neither she nor Halimić had the necessary permits to perform the procedure.

Džena Gadžun died on November 14, 2021, at the University Clinical Center Sarajevo (KCUS), six days after the doctors accused of her death performed a "routine" eyelid surgery at the "Dr. Bejtović" dental clinic.

During the surgery, complications and cardiac arrest occurred, leading to the girl falling into a coma from which she never woke up.

The indictment against the three doctors who performed the surgery was confirmed in July 2023, and the trial began at the end of the same year.