The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina acquitted House of Peoples lawmaker and former candidate for Bosnia's Presidency Fahrudin Radoncic and three others on Wednesday, saying they are not guilty of obstructing justice and trading in influence in a first instance ruling.

Along with member of the House of Representatives of Bosnia's semi-autonomous Federation entity, Bilsena Sahman, former Security Ministry Secretary, Bakir Dautbasic, and former US Embassy employee, Zijad Hadzijahic, Radoncic was accused of the crimes in an indictment submitted on February 15, 2016.

Prosecutors said the group had pressured and threatened witnesses in a Kosovo trial against convicted drug trafficker Naser Kelmendi.

Radoncic has maintained the charges against him were politically motivated.

“I am very glad we have managed to prove there was no basis for pursuing criminal charges against us and that a fair trail has shown there was no evidence against us, just a desire to eliminate us from the political scene,” he told reporters as he was leaving the Court building, while a group of supporters applauded.

“I think this is a large victory, not mine, but that of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who understand that the independent court has the strength, courage and professionalism to treat the Prosecutors’ Office and the defense equally and hand down a fair verdict,” he added.

Radoncic is the leader of the Union for a Better Future (SBB), a political party currently in power in a coalition with the main Bosniak party, the Party for Democratic Action (SDA). The former media magnate was also running against SDA leader and current chairman of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic in the 2014 general election.