Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina requested a stricter sentence for Selma Cikotić

(Patria) - The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in its appeal, requested a stricter sentence for former Defense Minister Selma Cikotić, who was sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of position or authority, while the Defense proposed that the verdict be amended or overturned and the proceedings returned for a retrial.

The accused Cikotić stated at the beginning that his lawyers decided not to attend the hearing due to the ongoing lawyers' strike, after which the President of the Appellate Panel, Redžib Begić, stated that the Court had received the Defense's request for a postponement of the hearing.

He recalled the notice from the Bar Association of the Federation and the decision to organize protests with a work stoppage and representation of lawyers in cases of court-appointed defense before the State Court, adding that the accused has chosen lawyers and that they were obliged to appear.

As Cikotić stated, his lawyers' interpretation is that the strike provision also applies to them, after which Judge Begić recalled the provision of the Criminal Procedure Code according to which there is no obstacle to holding a Panel session if the defense lawyers have been duly notified, adding that the conditions for holding the hearing have been met.

Judge Begić stated that the Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal due to the decision on the criminal law sanction with the proposal that the first-instance verdict be amended and a stricter sentence be imposed on the accused.

According to Judge Begić, the defense attorney Kadrija Kolić filed an appeal due to significant violations of the provisions of the criminal procedure, violation of the Criminal Code, and due to incorrectly or incompletely established factual situation, as well as the decision on the criminal law sanction with the proposal that the Court amend the verdict or overturn it and return the case for a retrial.

In their responses, the Prosecutor's Office and the Defense requested that the appeal of the opposing party be rejected.

At the beginning of December last year, Cikotić was sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of position or authority in his capacity as former Defense Minister.

He was found guilty of favoring the company “Scout” from Zagreb to the detriment of BiH at the time he held the position of minister, during the planned resolution of surplus weapons. He was found guilty on all six counts of the indictment, which listed individual amounts of profit obtained by “Scout”, ranging from several tens of thousands to more than two million US dollars.


Prosecutor Mladen Furtula stated that the Prosecutor's Office, in its appeal, explained in detail the reason why the imposed prison sentence is not adequate and why a higher sentence should be imposed on the accused. According to him, the Defense did not diminish the evidentiary strength of the Prosecutor's Office during the first-instance proceedings.

Cikotić assessed that the prosecutor did not prove that there was an agreement between him and his assistant Trpimir Repac, nor that the Prosecutor's Office ignored the Defense Law and the Rulebook on Internal Organization of the Ministry of Defense. As he said, the Prosecutor's Office did not prove that there was an agreement, nor intent to commit a criminal offense.

He added that he had never met the representatives of “Scout”, that the Prosecutor's Office had not proven the basis of the accusation, and that he expected the Panel to deliver a fair verdict.

After a member of the Appellate Panel, Hilmo Vučinić, asked him if he had proof that expert witness Berko Zečević was an employee of “Scout”, Cikotić stated that the Defense witness Muriz Čelik testified that expert witness Zečević sent emails from his address on behalf of “Scout”.

A decision on the appeals of the Prosecutor's Office and the Defense will be made later, reports Detektor.