At the trial of former Prime Minister of Republika Srpska Aleksandar Džombić, which is being monitored by observers from Transparency International in BiH, the indictment was amended today and the hearing was held before it was announced, so everything proceeded without the presence of media and the public. Today’s trial was scheduled for 9:00 AM as published in the public statement as well as on the Trial Schedule on the official website of the District Court in Banja Luka.
However, at the scheduled time, media and observers who appeared at the hearing were told that the trial had ended and that it was held before the announced start time, about which the public was not informed.
“The hearing was moved up by half an hour due to unexpected obligations of a council member, which the parties agreed to, and due to short deadlines and other trials, an oversight was made in recording the change in the trial schedule. At the same hearing, the republican public prosecutor partially amended the indictment in the factual description,” states the response from the District Court in Banja Luka.
TI BiH today submitted a request for access to information to the Republican Public Prosecutor’s Office and requested delivery of a copy of the amended indictment.
It should be noted that this trial has been ongoing for more than a year and a half, and hearings have been postponed multiple times due to the non-appearance of mechanical engineering experts from Novi Sad, who conducted the assessment of the investment for which “Energolinija” received the loan for the needs of the Republican Public Prosecutor’s Office of RS. The defendant himself once failed to appear in court, which led the court to issue an order for the former Prime Minister of the Government of Republika Srpska to be brought to the hearing in June last year.
As a reminder, Aleksandar Džombić is charged with the criminal offense of “abuse of official position or authority,” specifically according to the indictment he is connected to the illegal granting of a loan by the Investment-Development Bank of RS to the legal entity “Energolinija” d.o.o. Zvornik in 2012 in the amount of 19.4 million marks. After a years-long investigation, the indictment was filed only in January last year.
