Fikret Hodzic acquitted in "Ventilators" case

In a statement, the Court confirmed that the second-instance verdict, issued on March 7, 2025, rejected the charges against Hodzic and his company, F.H. Srebrena Malina, citing procedural grounds under the Criminal Procedure Code.

The Court explained that the decision was influenced by prior legal determinations, particularly regarding the charge of money laundering, which had been addressed in earlier proceedings. Additionally, the rejection of charges related to abuse of position or authority stemmed from the full implementation of a Constitutional Court ruling, which set strict legal standards for defining criminal liability.

The Appellate Panel concluded that legal qualifications in an indictment must be clearly derived from the descriptions of alleged acts, which must be presented to the accused during questioning. In this case, while Hodzic and other defendants were questioned about the events outlined in the indictment, the descriptions did not meet the legal criteria for abuse of position or authority. Consequently, the Court ruled that there were circumstances preventing criminal prosecution, as the defendants had not been properly confronted with the charges.

The Court emphasized that this was a procedural decision, not a ruling on the merits of the case. "This decision does not address the guilt of the accused but rejects the charges due to formal deficiencies in the proceedings," the statement clarified.

Previously, the Court had annulled the five-year prison sentence initially imposed on Hodzic in connection with the case.