On 7 March 2025 the Appellate Division Panel of the Court of BiH pronounced an Appeals Judgment by which, pursuant to Article 283, Subparagraphs d) and e), of the Criminal Procedure Code, it dismissed the charges against the accused Fikret Hodžić and legal entity “F.H. Srebrena malina” d.o.o. Srebrenica.

The reopened proceeding before the Appellate Panel was initiated following the Decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH No. AP-667/24 of 14 November 2024. The Decision granted the appellation filed by Fikret Hodžić and legal entity “F.H. Srebrena malina” d.o.o., and found a violation of the rights in the part of the Appellate Panel’s Judgment No. S1 2 K 039029 23 Kž 3 of 2 November 2023, which ruled on the appellants’ objection in which they claim they did know what they were charged with. In its Decision, the Constitutional Court of BiH concluded that the appellants’ right to a fair trial under Article II/3.e) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 6(3)a) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was violated, so it revoked the Appellate Panel’s Judgment in relation to Fikret Hodžić and legal entity “F. H. Srebrena malina” d.o.o.

Implementing the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, on 9 December 2024 the Appellate Panel primarily revoked the Trial Judgment in relation to the accused Fikret Hodžić and legal entity “F.H. Srebrena Malina”, ordered that a trial be held, and on completion of trial issued the foregoing procedural decision to dismiss the charges.

Such a decision stands in a cause-and-effect relationship with the fact that certain legal classifications in this criminal matter have been adjudicated in a final judgment, which primarily pertains to the criminal offense of Money Laundering with which the BiH Prosecutor's Office charged the accused in an amended Indictment. On the other hand, when it comes to the criminal offense of Abuse of Office or Official Authority, the decision to dismiss the charges is a result of the full implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH, and compliance with the imposed standards set forth in the given decision. To that end, the Appellate Panel has concluded that a legal classification must always clearly follow from the description of the act the accused is charged with, which acts must be presented to the accused by way of investigation questioning records, which precede issuing an indictment, which is why the law envisions, pursuant to Article 225(6) CPC BiH, that no indictment may be issued before the accused has been questioned. Specifically, the accused have been questioned during the preliminary proceeding concerning the course of events, as specified in the Indictment, however the description of the acts that was presented to them does not contain the elements of the criminal offense of Abuse of Office or Official Authority. That is why it was concluded that there are other circumstances that rule out criminal prosecution under Article 283.e CPC BiH, since neither the accused Fikret Hodžić not the legal entity “F.H. Srebrena malina” was properly faced with the charges against them in the context of the criminal offense of Abuse of Office or Official Authority.

Finally, the Court notes that this is a procedural decision, not a decision on merits, which means that the decision does not address the matter of the accused’s guilt, but dismisses the charges on the grounds of formal procedural deficiencies.