Court of BiH ruled in the 'Scout case': Selmo Cikotić sentenced to three years in prison in the first instance!

(Patria) - Former BiH Minister of Defence Selmo Cikotić has been sentenced to three years in prison. The Court of BiH found Cikotić guilty of abuse of position and authority in the case known as Scout, and that he thus damaged the BiH Budget by approximately 9.7 million marks, writes Istraga.ba.

The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) filed an indictment against Cikotić in November 2021, accusing him of abusing his official position between 2009 and 2011, while serving as the Minister of Defence of BiH.

Cikotić is accused of illegally favouring a buyer to the detriment of the ministry he led, during the plan for the export and sale of surplus obsolete weapons, ammunition, and military equipment.

The indictment states that Cikotić changed the contract, completely illegally and outside of legal procedures, without informing his deputies, as well as the BiH Presidency.

As stated, Cikotić, contrary to the Agreement on the Final Disposal of All Rights and Obligations over Movable Property from 2008 and the decisions of the BiH Presidency, made and signed two decisions on approving the delivery, i.e., exchange of goods, and four decisions on the delivery of ammunition. According to the indictment, he approved four addenda to the basic contracts for the sale of non-perspective weapons and ammunition concluded in 2003 and 2004.

The Court of BiH later, based on these contracts, ruled in a civil proceeding in favour of Scout, and this Zagreb-based company began to remove larger quantities of weapons and ammunition from the barracks of the Armed Forces of BiH. The last seizure was carried out last week when Scout representatives seized cannons and 3.3 million rounds of ammunition from the barracks in Tuzla.

These very facts were decisive for the Court of BiH to find Cikotić guilty in the criminal proceedings. Both the defence and the BiH Prosecutor's Office have the right to appeal this decision of the Court of BiH.