RESPIRATOR CASE Alagić maintained her claim that her statement was given with the 'help' of prosecutors

SARAJevo, (Patria) - A witness for the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated that due to "prosecutors' constructions" during the investigation, she said different things regarding the timing of amendments to the contract for the procurement of respirators, as well as the disposal of documentation.

Sanita Alagić, Assistant Director at the Federal Civil Protection Administration (FUCZ), in the fourth continuation of her testimony, maintained her claim that a few days after signing the contract with "Srebrena malina" on April 3, 2020, she changed the respirator model information, as instructed by the director, citing a technical error as the reason.

Prosecutor Mirza Hukeljić presented the statement Alagić gave during the investigation, which stated that the amendments were made on April 22 or 24, when Fikret Hodžić arrived with the documentation.

"All statements were given with the help of prosecutors... None of it was thrown away," Alagić said, adding that the prosecutors presented constructions and said they knew what had happened.

She stated that she did not know if she was an accused or a witness and that she was afraid of the prosecutors. She confirmed that she signed the statements and had no objections.

She also shifted responsibility to the prosecutors for the claims in her statement that everything was symptomatic to her – "from the company name" to the "technical error."

Members of the Council were interested in whether the data on the e-portal of the Public Procurement Agency had also been corrected, to which Alagić replied that there was no possibility for that.

Presiding Judge Džemila Begović asked the witness who made the decision on which respirators would be procured from the three offers that Alagić claims they received from "Srebrena malina."

"That is a question for the supervisor," Alagić said.

She added that the Federal Civil Protection Staff did not discuss it, but that they received documentation from the Crisis Staff of the Ministry of Health with guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) and specifications of recommended respirators.

Federal Prime Minister Fadil Novalić, suspended FUCZ Director Fahrudin Solak, Director of the company "F.H. Srebrena malina" Fikret Hodžić, as well as the company itself, and Federal Minister of Finance Jelka Miličević, who is charged with negligent work, are on trial for abuse of office during the procurement of respirators.

Alagić stated that after the pandemic appeared, they did not protocol all the acts that arrived at FUCZ due to the chaotic situation that prevailed. The prosecutor asked questions about the protocol related to the offer for respirators marked ACM 812A, which was later included in the contract instead of the original HC VE300. According to the Prosecution, this offer did not exist at the time of signing the contract, while the witness claims otherwise.

Alagić said that the contract did not define who was responsible for the installation, verification, and commissioning of the respirators, and that FUCZ tried to carry out this task. She stated that one company agreed to do it free of charge, which is why a public procurement procedure was not initiated, but that after media reports, the company withdrew.

To questions from Solak's Defense, the witness stated that FUCZ did not plan to store the respirators but to distribute them.

Defense attorney Marsela Bajramović presented "Srebrena malina's" offer for protective equipment from March 3, to which Alagić replied that they did not even consider it because they had already procured those items at more favorable prices.

To Solak's questions, the witness confirmed that FUCZ had procured medical equipment even before the pandemic, and that certain masks and suits they had from before were used for COVID wards.

Solak stated that FUCZ was prepared and knew how to procure medical equipment, while prosecutor Hukeljić said that it was not, because it did not have expert bodies.

The trial continues on November 19.