Request for Exemption of Judges in Miletic Case Rejected

Miletic, a state court judge, has been charged accepting a bribe from defendants Senad Sabic and Ramo Brkic. Sabic and Brkic allegedly promised to give a certain amount of money to Miletic, which she accepted. The prosecution alleges that Sabic and Brkic, who were facing organized crime charges, bribed Miletic in order to influence the outcome of a second instance proceeding against them.

During a general session of the Bosnian state court, the request to exempt Kreso was deemed inadmissible. The request for Cukovic’s exemption was deemed groundless.

The defense filed the request for exemption shortly before the scheduled start of the trial. The defense said it suspected the impartiality of state court judges in the case.

In its decision, the court said it one could request the exemption of a judge dealing with a particular case, and that Kreso had not been involved in any phase of the proceedings against Miletic.

The decision confirms that Kreso held a press conference regarding the case following Miletic’s arrest, but that the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina concluded that Miletic’s right to assumption of innocence had not been violated as a result.

The request for the exemption of Cukovic was rejected as unfounded.

In its exemption request, the defense had argued that the state court had referred a similar case to a lower instance court. The participants in today’s general session concluded that the state court had already rendered its decision on this issue.

The defense had also argued that the impartiality of the judges involved in the case was further undermined by an anonymous public letter written in 2010 and signed “by a group of Bosnian state court judges.” In that letter, the defense argued, Miletic’s personality was discussed “in a low, gossipy and malicious manner.” This argument was rejected at today’s session as well.

The judges attending the general session said this issue had also been previously decided upon, and said the letter could have been written by anyone.

“Judge Cukovic’s argument that she did not know judge Miletic, except in a collegial and professional sense, at the time when the letter was written, as she had worked as a state court judge for only four months, is considered acceptable,” the decision said.