The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) acquitted the country’s former security minister Fahrudin Radoncic on Friday from charges of obstructing the work of the judiciary, and confirmed the first-instance decision.
BiH Prosecutor’s Office had filed an indictment against Radoncic, chairman of the Alliance for a Better Future (SBB) party, in 2016 for suspicion of “interfering with the work of judiciary, association for the purpose of committing criminal offenses and giving rewards or other forms of benefits for trade with influence.”
His close party associates Bakir Dautbasic and Bilsena Sahman were indicted on similar charges.
When pronouncing the verdict, presiding judge Hasija Masovic said the court could not find evidence that there had been a conspiracy to obstruct the work of the judiciary or that influence was traded for reward.
Radoncic has repeatedly said he was the victim of a “purely political trial”.
For the past 2.5 years, Radoncic’s case has been seen as one of the most high profile crime cases involving top officials in BiH since the Balkan country gained independence in the 1990s.
Radoncic, a former top official of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), was arrested on January 25th,2016. Radoncic, Chairman of the Alliance for a Better Future (SBB) and a former security minister, was suspected of the criminal offense of Obstruction of Justice.
He was arrested by members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in accordance with orders of BiH Prosecutor’s Office.
Police searched several locations, including Tower Avaz, the tallest building in Sarajevo owned by Radoncic.