Prosecution seeks annulment of acquittal verdict for Marina Pendeš

Presenting an appeal against the acquittal verdict for Marina Pendeš for dereliction of duty, the State Prosecution stated that it was “unintelligible verdict” that should be annulled.

Prosecutor Mirza Hukeljić said that the first-instance verdict against former Deputy Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Marina Pendeš, involved violations of the law and an incorrect determination of factual circumstances, for which reason he requested the proceedings be reopened before the Appellate Panel of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- The first-instance court concluded that the imprecision in keeping the attendance records was the responsibility of the accused, and that her omission could be spoken of, but that given the complexity of her duties, it was an understandable omission, which, in the Prosecution's opinion, is unintelligible - said Hukeljić.

Pendeš was acquitted at the end of February of charges that from the summer of 2013 to February 2015, she issued instructions for her advisor Ivo Miro Jović to be paid salaries and other benefits without verifying his presence at work.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina acquitted Pendeš of the charge that she certified attendance records for Ivo Miro Jović, knowing they were false, based on which he was paid around 13,000 KM.

Prosecutor Hukeljić also said that the statements of the first-instance judge Branko Perić during the pronouncement of the verdict that “dereliction of duty is an outdated offense” are contentious for the BiH Prosecution.

According to the prosecutor, the first-instance judge did not critically assess the testimony of Ivo Miro Jović, accepting all his statements.

- The Court refused to hear the accused's chief of staff, who could have precisely stated whether he knew when Jović was present at work... Also, the Court accepted the Defence's evidence that Jović was legitimately absent, even though this evidence was not properly processed in the Ministry of Defence - said Hukeljić.

In response to the appeal, defence counsel Josip Muselimović stated that the acquittal verdict should be upheld.

- The first-instance court made no mistakes, no violations, and the factual situation was determined completely correctly. There are no elements of any criminal offense in my client's actions - said Muselimović.

He also added that the BiH Prosecution's position that an advisor is not at work on days when they do not come to the office is “completely wrong”.

The accused Pendeš briefly addressed the court, stating that she had never “forged any documents”.

The Appellate Panel will make a decision later, BIRN reported, as carried by NAP.