Vidović: Radončić was not questioned at the BiH Prosecutor's Office, someone thought it was not enough and added a new criminal offense

After being handed over to the BiH Prosecutor's Office following criminal processing at SIPA premises, Fahrudin Radončić was not questioned at the BiH Prosecutor's Office due to "adding a series of facts and a new criminal offense", confirmed attorney Vasvija Vidović, reports the Patria news agency. 

"Mr. Radončić was questioned today in the presence of his attorney, Dragan Barbarić, and gave a statement regarding the grounds for suspicion presented to him at SIPA. SIPA officers correctly entered the statement into the record, after which we received a call from prosecutor Božo Mihajlović, which my colleague and I responded to. We were surprised when he informed us that what the SIPA officers had done was not what he thought it should be; that what was done did not fit into his conception. He requested that Fahrudin Radončić be questioned again," said Vidović for N1 and added:

"From the moment we arrived from SIPA to the BiH Prosecutor's Office, a change occurred, with the addition of a series of facts and the addition of one criminal offense. We understood that behind the investigation stands someone who thought the amount of criminal allegations was insufficient and that someone wished to add more charges to Mr. Radončić. We did not want to participate in such actions, especially since we noticed that there was no factual description either in the arrest warrant or in the order for the search of the apartment and premises."

Vidović emphasized that neither she nor her colleague Barbarić "will participate in such procedures of the BiH Prosecutor's Office."

"Neither colleague Barbarić nor I are ready to participate in such procedures of the Prosecutor's Office, and we abandoned the questioning. We feel sorry for Mr. Radončić, but the situation is such that we must not participate in such illegal procedures. I have been doing this job for years and this is the first time I have experienced this; that within an hour factual and legal grounds are added and a person does not know why they have been deprived of liberty."

Asked what the next step in the entire process is, Vidović said that the situation will have to be reviewed and the next steps planned.

"We did not sign the record. Colleague Barbarić and I will review the situation and decide what to do next. This is a situation in which it is impossible to defend oneself. Keep in mind the fact that this is not the only illegality. From the beginning, this procedure has been accompanied by a symbiosis of the prosecuting authorities with the BiH Court. The President of the BiH Court has been participating all the time in agreements with the prosecuting authorities, including SIPA. Information about meetings appears, joint statements are issued, which is unthinkable in any legal system. An extremely illegal and unconstitutional procedure is being conducted in which state authorities do not stand on their own positions, but participate in some kind of agreements."

Furthermore, Vidović emphasized that due to all the irregularities observed in the entire procedure, Radončić was not questioned at the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

"Because of all this, he was not questioned at the Prosecutor's Office; he was questioned once, completely correctly, at SIPA."