Commencement of the trial before the Appellate Panel of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in the case of Dragan Čović and Others, has been scheduled for Wednesday, 21 November 2007, starting at 10:00am, in courtroom 4.

On 11 September 2007, the Appellate Panel of Section II for Organised Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Court issued a decision on appeals against the Trial Panel’s verdict.  That decision upheld the appeals filed by the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and defence counsel for Dragan Čović, revoked the Trial Panel’s verdict and ordered a retrial before the Appellate Panel.

On 17 November 2006, the Trial Panel handed down the first instance verdict in this case, finding Dragan Čović guilty of Abuse of office or official authority and sentencing him to five years imprisonment.  The Panel acquitted Dragan Čović, Jozo Ivanković – Lijanović, Slavo Ivanković – Lijanović, Mladen Ivanković – Lijanović, Jerko Ivanković – Lijanović, Mato Tadić, and Zdravko Lučić of the remaining charges in the indictment.  As the Prosecutor’s Office did not file appeals in relation to the Accused Mato Tadić and Zdravko Lučić, their acquittals by the Trial Panel have become final.