SDA on Novalić's verdict: Politically motivated and made under pressure

(Patria) - SDA believes that the verdict by which the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, Fadil Novalić, is politically motivated, with the aim of removing the strongest party in the Bosniak corpus from power at all costs.

"The verdict was reached by outvoting the presiding judge of the trial panel, which is a curiosity in itself. It is worrying for the entire society that the verdict, instead of being based on the postulates of legal profession and evidence, was made under pressure from politics and foreign ambassadors, as confirmed by the presiding judge of the trial panel in their dissenting opinion.

The outcome of the trial has been known for several days after it was reported in the media even before the verdict was announced that Fadil Novalić would be convicted, and HDZ minister Jelka Milićević would be acquitted.

If we accept the practice that court verdicts are not made by courts in accordance with the law, but according to the will of foreign diplomats, then we will not need a judiciary. In that case, every citizen can ask themselves who will be the next one for whom some ambassador will decide to be convicted. Just as we will not need elections if governments are appointed in embassies.

The fact that the BiH Prosecutor's Office has not filed indictments in any other case known to the public also confirms that the entire process against Novalić is politically motivated. There are no indictments or trials against the top officials of the RS entity for the procurement of equipment and field hospitals during the pandemic, nor were there any for the villa in Dedinje, Pavlović Bank, the anti-constitutional referendum, and a number of other scandals.

The "Reket" affair was not tried, nor is there an investigation into a suspicious transaction of 200,000 KM that SDP had with a crane rental company from Široki Brijeg, which is part of the large "Flajš" affair in Croatia. The BiH judiciary does not even dare to investigate the crime in Aluminij, various "Radobolja" and other scandals involving HDZ cadres. And when it does go to trial against the leaders of that party, as in the case of the "Prelevmani" affair in which the state was damaged by over 40 million KM, evidence disappears from court files.

Processes and trials are mostly intended for Bosniaks, especially SDA cadres, and it is no longer hidden that this is done for political reasons.

Novalić's case is in many ways reminiscent of the process against former Federation President Živko Budimir, who a decade ago was an obstacle for SDP and HDZ to form a joint government, so he was arrested and tried in a fabricated process. After years of trial, Budimir was acquitted of all serious charges, but the process against him will forever remain an example of a fabricated process. In the future, this will certainly be the case with Fadil Novalić.

SDA believes that despite all the pressure, Novalić will prove his innocence in the appellate procedure, and that in the judicial system he will find enough people of integrity who will make decisions according to the law and their own conscience, and not according to anyone's dictate," stated SDA.