Closing arguments in the Sanjin Sefić case, Agić and Malkoč families fear new postponement

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - On Friday, March 13, at 10 AM, closing arguments will be presented at the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo in the retrial against Sanjin Sefić, who is accused of causing a traffic accident in which students Selma Agić and Edita Malkoč were killed.

Closing arguments were initially scheduled for January 15, and then for February 26, but both times were postponed at the request of Sefić's lawyer, Kerim Čelik, who asked for a postponement to prepare. The prosecutor in the case, Jasminka Knežević, was ready to present her closing arguments both times, and the maximum sentence will be sought for Sefić.

The accused Sanjin Sefić himself addressed the court at the last hearing, with strong opposition from his lawyer Čelik.

“Everyone is in a hurry to finish this by April 15. You don't have to let me go, but it is also in my interest that the truth of what happened is proven,” Sefić said, to which Judge Igor Todorović replied that the truth is in everyone's interest.

An informal group of psychology students, in an open letter, asks if there will be another postponement tomorrow.

“The Law on Criminal Procedure of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that if a second-instance decision is rendered within nine months, overturning the first-instance verdict, custody may last for a maximum of one additional year from the rendering of the second-instance decision. In this case, the second-instance decision overturning Sanjin Sefić's first-instance verdict was rendered on April 15, 2019 – which means that if closing arguments continue to be postponed, and consequently the verdict – Sanjin Sefić could be released from custody on April 15.

We remind you that the first-instance proceedings began more than three years ago – on March 21, 2017, since when numerous hearings have been postponed, and the families of Selma Agić and Edita Malkoč have come to Sarajevo from Bugojno and Bosanska Krupa each time, often to be told after five minutes that the hearing has been postponed. We also remind you that the costs of court hearings are the financial responsibility of taxpayers – the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the families have been financing their own travel to Sarajevo for over three years, awaiting justice for their murdered daughters,” the students stated in the letter.

Amir Agić, the father of the deceased Selma Agić, told NAP that Sefić could have ended this case if he had admitted what he did.

“There is no reason why this trial should not end tomorrow. But given that it has already been postponed twice, I fear that something will happen tomorrow that will cause it to be postponed again,” Agić told NAP.

In September 2018, the Cantonal Court sentenced Sefić to 14.5 years in prison, while his accomplices were acquitted. The Supreme Court of FBiH upheld the appeal of the KS Prosecutor's Office, the first-instance verdict was overturned, and a retrial is underway. The new trial for Sefić and his accomplices (except for his sister Sara Sefić) began in early July 2019. His accomplices Dino Alić, Saud Nišić, and Amar Salihović signed plea agreements and were convicted in separate proceedings.