At the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) started an appeal trial against the former police commissionaire of Una Sana Canton (USK) Ramo Brkić, Senad Šabić and Satko Kekić, who were sentenced to long-term prison sentences last year.
Brkić was sentenced to 11 years, Šabić to 10, and Kekić to five years in prison on charges of drug trade and production, abuse of office and corruption.
Around 200,000 KM were taken from Brkić and Šabić on charges of being gained illicitly or might have been used during the criminal acts. They will also have to pay court fees once an amount was established.
The BiH Prosecutor’s Office asked the appeal council to hand down a longer prison sentence for Brkić, while the defense council asks for lowering of the sentence explaining it by the fact that the first-instance verdict was based on the testimonies of people charged with the same crimes.
SIPA inspectors have accidentally revealed the commissionaire’s role in drug trade when they were investigating a drug ring made up of Šabić, Kekić, Nedžad Kurtović and Zijad Muratović. On the eve of the trial, Kurtović and Muratović changed their status of the accused into that of main witnesses and revealed the details about the production and trade in drugs.
The Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo (CIN) has done an investigation in the case of Ramo Brkić and in a documentary film revealed details about the trade in narcotics. Today at the court Šabić and his defense told before the court panel that the film influenced their acquittal. However, the film was broadcasted after the reading of the verdict.
