Prosecution Maintains Request for Detention of Dautbašić and Šahman

A hearing on the proposal of the BiH Prosecutor's Office to order detention for arrested Bakir Dautbašić and Bilsena Šahman, suspected of obstructing the work of the judiciary by pressuring witness Azra Sarić, who is a witness in the case against Naser Keljmendi being conducted in Kosovo, was held before the Court of BiH, reports a reporter from the Bosnian news agency Patria.   

Prosecutor Božo Mihajlović presented a series of reports from SIPA, as well as transcripts of some conversations and statements from witnesses Azra Sarić, Sabahudin Žuja, Aziz Šukalo, and Tarik Mašić during his presentation.

At the hearing, Mihajlović stated that the suspects threatened and exerted other pressures on Azra Sarić to change her testimony in order to protect Fahrudin Radončić and Naser Keljmendi in connection with the murder of Ramiz Delalić. Azra Sarić is the former girlfriend of Ramiz Delalić.

As Mihajlović pointed out, the BiH Prosecutor's Office possesses transcripts of conversations, call lists, and witness statements.

The Prosecutor's Office maintained its request for a one-month detention, citing concerns that the suspects could influence witnesses who are at large or destroy evidence. The Prosecutor's Office also mentioned Jonathan Moore, head of the OSCE mission in BiH, in the context of the entire case.

The defense of Bilsena Šahman and Bakir Dautbašić, led by attorney Vasvija Vidović, who emphasized that the judicial proceedings in Kosovo are conducted under local laws and that the situation is completely reversed, as Dautbašić and Šahman stated in their defense that Azra Sarić blackmailed them, refuted the prosecutor's claims. Vidović stated that there was no need for the alleged pressure on Sarić to change her testimony because in her statement given to the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo two months after the murder of Ramiz Delalić and to SIPA on April 8, 2014, she did not mention Radončić anywhere.

Vidović requested the Court to reject the Prosecutor's proposal and possibly introduce some prohibitive measures for Dautbašić and Šahman, who have no prior convictions.