Conviction against Amir Zukić and others overturned

(Patria) - The Cantonal Court in Sarajevo overturned the first-instance verdict by which Amir Zukić, Safet Bibić, Esed Džananović, Ramiz Karavdić, and Senad Trako were found guilty of receiving bribes and illegal mediation in employment in 2016, while Asim Sarajlić and Nedžad Trako were acquitted, and the case was returned to the Municipal Court for a new decision.

Zukić, who at the time was the Secretary General of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and a Member of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was sentenced to three years in prison by the first-instance verdict of the Municipal Court, the same sentence received by Džananović, then Executive Director for Electricity Distribution at “Elektroprivreda BiH”.

Bibić, who was a technician at the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo (KCUS) and a member of several management and supervisory boards, was sentenced to six years, Karavdić to two years, and Senad Trako, then an official of the Bosniak Patriotic Party (BPS), to one and a half years in prison.

They were found guilty of receiving bribes and abuse of influence through illegal mediation in the employment of several individuals, from whom amounts ranging from 11,000 to 20,000 marks were requested. The money, as stated, was handed over in some cases, and in others it was not, due to the arrest of the accused.

“We inform you that a decision has been made to overturn the first-instance decision and return the case to the first-instance court for a new decision. The case was returned to the Municipal Court on April 26, 2023,” the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo responded to Detektor.

The first-instance verdict ordered the confiscation of illegally acquired financial gain from Bibić in the total amount of approximately 80,000 marks, and phones used to exchange messages during the commission of criminal offenses were confiscated from others. The confiscation of financial gain from Zukić and others was rejected because the money was not handed over.

Sarajlić, also an SDA official, was acquitted on one count of the indictment, and Nedžad Trako on multiple counts. Zukić, Bibić, and Senad Trako were also acquitted on some counts.

The indictment in this case was confirmed in 2017, and during the trial, 110 witnesses and experts were heard, and 300 material evidence items were introduced. The first-instance verdict was delivered at the end of July last year.