Prosecution seeks harsher sentence, Zubac wants either acquittal or retrial

The session of the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the appeals of Goran Zubac, his attorney Dragiša Jokić, and the Prosecutor's Office of BiH has concluded, reports a reporter from the Patria news agency.

The Appellate Chamber, chaired by Tihomir Lukes, will render its decision within the legal deadline and in written form. The Prosecutor's Office of BiH requested a revision to a harsher sentence for Zubac for negligent performance of duties, for which he received a one-year prison sentence, i.e., a suspended sentence of two years in the first-instance verdict.

Jokić and Zubac requested the annulment of the first-instance verdict due to "violations of rights and obligations as well as incorrectly established facts during the first-instance court proceedings."

They also requested a new trial before the Appellate Chamber.

Incidentally, Jokić, addressing the court on several occasions, stated that Zubac's trial was politicized and that even Miroslav Marković, the presiding prosecutor, fell under the influence of such narratives.

"- I ask the court to disregard everything that happened outside the courtroom because, as you can see, even for these events in Potočari, they want to blame my client. The Prosecutor's Office is going public with stories about some new criminal charges," Jokić said.

Prosecutor Marković emphasized that this is not the case, which is confirmed by part of the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH stating that the appellant, i.e., Goran Zubac, is not the subject of any reprisals.

"Here, honorable court, we have a precedent where the accused filed a criminal complaint against the presiding prosecutor, which is completely unheard of in the civilized world," Marković pointed out, adding that Zubac, even after the unfortunate events of February 7, when the most important state institutions were burning, showed no remorse, not even for the 82 injured police officers.

The Appellate Chamber of the Court of BiH will render its decision within 15 to 30 days.

Incidentally, during the trial, Judge Tihomir Lukes had to admonish Zubac to stand up when addressing the Court.