Špirić's lawsuit against Patria dismissed: No one has yet proven Kemal Čaušević's statement to be untrue

Nikola Špirić, SNSD representative in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, nor his lawyer, appeared at the preparatory hearing at the Municipal Court in Sarajevo today, where Špirić's lawsuit against the Patria news agency was to be discussed.

Judge Nives Abdagić therefore, as Patria's lawyer Šemso Temim stated, dismissed Špirić's lawsuit.

As a reminder, the SNSD representative sued Patria for publishing the statement of the former director of the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH, Kemal Čaušević, in which he accused numerous political officials from SDA, HDZBIH, and SNSD of multi-million dollar corruption, including Nikola Špirić, who was the Minister of Finance of BiH at the time. 

Among other things, Čaušević linked Špirić to the sugar affair, from which he allegedly benefited millions, which was confirmed in a statement to Patria by his then-deputy Fuad Kasumović. 

- I had to file lawsuits. Simply, the question is why no one is asking Čaušević about the corruption that happened during his time, and I invite you to ask the institutions if any investigation is being conducted against me.

I am not afraid of anything. Let them check all my property, let them sift through me, but I have nothing hidden. Why Čaušević mentioned me, I don't know. I mean, I'm not an angel, but I repeat, ask the judicial institutions if they are investigating me - Špirić said a few months ago, explaining why he sued Patria.

It is obvious that Špirić's intention was to intimidate Patria's journalists by filing a lawsuit, so that they would stop writing about corruption, in which he, judging by the statements of both Čaušević and Kasumović, is deeply involved.