Trial of Radončić: Prosecutors Burzić and Topalović, and police officer Selimović testified

At the Court of BiH today, in the continuation of the trial of SBB leader and delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament Fahrudin Radončić, as well as Bakir Dautbašić, Bilsena Šahman, and Zijad Hadžijahić, three witnesses for the BiH Prosecutor's Office were heard, reports a reporter of the Patria News Agency.

The main prosecutor of the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office, Dalida Burzić, the deputy chief prosecutor of the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office, Aida Topalović, and police officer Himzo Selimović gave their testimonies.

Answering the question of prosecutor Emir Neradin whether he knew Bakir Dautbašić, Burzić said that he was the husband of her acquaintance from high school. Burzić stated that on January 6, she received a letter signed by Dautbašić, and she ordered the opening of a case file and instructed her deputy, Aida Topalović, to summon Dautbašić and Bilsena Šahman to give statements regarding the circumstances mentioned in the submission. Burzić also said that the dates mentioned in the submission were illogical to her.

When asked by prosecutor Neradin how she assessed the submission, Burzić said that those claims should be verified. The prosecutor also asked if she had called Duška Jurišić (editor at FTV, who will testify on May 4), to which Burzić replied that she had.

- She is my long-time friend and a friend of Bakir Dautbašić, and she was supposed to check if Dautbašić would be in Sarajevo. She confirmed to me that he would be in Sarajevo that day.

Burzić stated that she had previously (before the case was formed) been asked by Duška Jurišić if there were any complaints against Bakir Dautbašić in this Prosecutor's Office, to which she replied that she was not aware of any.

Burzić and Jurišić, along with Himzo Selimović, sat in a cafe in Sarajevo on January 7, but Burzić said that she did not mention any blackmail.

She learned from the media that Bakir Dautbašić and Bilsena Šahman had been arrested, and they received a request for a copy of the case file from prosecutor Božo Mihajlović, which they provided.

During cross-examination, lawyer Asim Crnalić stated that he would not question Burzić's testimony but asked if she could recall the content of the statement in the submission.

- I read it superficially, and it concerned Azra Sarić and some appeals to Bakir Dautbašić and Bilsena Šahman, regarding specialization or her employment at UKCS – said Burzić.

After Crnalić read a part of the statement sent by Bakir Dautbašić, Burzić confirmed that these were the claims she had also received.

Lawyer Muhidin Kapo asked the witness if she had mentioned in her conversation with Jurišić and Selimović that Dautbašić had sent some report regarding blackmail, to which Burzić replied:

- I did not say that, nor did I mention it.

Another witness for the BiH Prosecutor's Office, Aida Topalović, stated that on January 7, she was called to the office of chief prosecutor Burzić, who showed her the mail and told her to send summons for statements.

Topalović said that it was sensitive content because it mentioned the name of Bakir Dautbašić, who was then the Secretary of the Ministry of Security, a candidate for minister, the name of Fahrudin Radončić, and the proceedings in Priština. Burzić also called Topalović and said that the appointment for January 14 remained.

When asked by the prosecutor if she knew that an investigation was ongoing at the time, Topalović said she did not know and learned about the arrest of Dautbašić and Šahman from the media.

Topalović also mentioned that in October last year, she attended a meeting with the prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, Dubravko Čampara, but he did not say that he was conducting an investigation against Fahrudin Radončić.

Himzo Selimović confirmed during his testimony that on January 7, he sat with Burzić and Jurišić, with whom he has been friends for years.

- At one point, I registered that the two of them mentioned that Dautbašić had submitted a criminal complaint and that someone was blackmailing him. I only said then that everything should be done according to the law – said Selimović.

At the next hearing on May 4, Sabahudin Žujo, Aziz Šukalo, Tarik Mašić, and Duška Jurišić will testify. Dalida Burzić has also been summoned again so that the defense of Bakir Dautbašić, which was not present at today's hearing, can conduct a cross-examination.

Numerous members and sympathizers of SBB attended the trial.