|
Fadil Novalic, the prime minister of Bosnia's autonomous Bosniak-Croat
Federation, was sentenced to four years for abuse of office and
violations of a law on public tenders.
Lawyers of all three men, who denied wrongdoing, said they would
appeal the verdict and they remain free for the time being.
This is the first time that a senior official has been sentenced
to a prison term for embezzlement in Bosnia, which has been
plagued by corruption scandals.
Novalic's lawyer Vasvija Vidovic said the case was fabricated by
the media and that the sentence was politically motivated.
Novalic, along with Fahrudin Solak, an official in charge of
procuring equipment to combat the pandemic, and Fikret Hodzic,
the manager of the company that procured the ventilators, were
briefly detained in May 2020 after the prosecutors' initial
report showed the ventilators could not be used for the adequate
treatment of patients in intensive care units.
Hodzic and Solak were sentenced to five and six years in prison
respectively.
Finance Minister Jelka Milicevic, who was accused of negligence
for enabling the ventilators' purchase, was acquitted of all
charges.
Bosnia company Srebrena Malina, the raspberry processor, which
had no licence to import medical equipment, was chosen by the
region's crisis headquarters to import the Chinese ventilators
for 10.5 million Bosnian marka ($5.8 million) and other medical
equipment when the pandemic took hold in April 2020 and rules on
procurement were relaxed.
The relaxation allowed for direct bargaining with suppliers
rather than via public tender.
Novalic, who remains in office, has headed the regional
government since 2015 after political bickering prevented the
formation of a new administration after an election in 2018.
His party blocked the formation of a regional government again
after a vote in October, despite dropping out of ruling
coalition at state and regional levels.
(1$ = 1.794 Bosnian marka)
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Alison Williams)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
