Trial against Bosnia's Deputy Chief Prosecutor kicks off

Tužilaštvo BiH

The trial against Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, charged with misfeasance in public office, began on Tuesday, with the reading of an indictment.

Bozo Mihajlovic’s indictment alleges that he misused his official duties by failing to oversee the work of Sadina Beridan-Zuhric, who had worked as a typist and prosecutor in the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, since mid-November 2006.

“Mihajlovic failed to oversee Beridan-Zuhric who took the temporarily seized money from several cases. He was aware of this possibility but he believed that this wouldn’t happen, which proved wrong. In this way, the two committed a serious violation of rights of the persons from whom the money was temporarily seized,” prosecutor Emir Neradin said reading the indictment.

The prosecutor said he plans to question 47 witnesses and prove Mihalovic’s responsibility.

Mihajlovic’s attorney Vlado Adamovic said the entire concept of the indictment is “preposterous.”

the indictment against Mihajlovic should never have been confirmed, Adamovic said, because the Sarajevo Cantonal Court is already conducting an investigation against Beridan-Zuhric. He added that if the court indicts her, there will be two parallel investigations on the same thing.