Explaining the verdict, the chairman of the Court's panel of judges, Steven Swanson, said that prosecutors of the special departnment for organised crime and corruption in the Office of Prosecutor failed to prove that Cengic committed criminal offences cited in his indictment.
The indictment alleges that in 1996 when he was Deputy Defence Minister of the Croat-Muslim Federation, Cengic signed a licence for the production of arms and ammunition to the Bosnian Investment Organisation (BIO), although he was not authorised for it. With this move Cengic made it possible for some other persons to unlawfully acquire more than 5,000 euros, which is punishable.
The panel of judges accepted the evidence on the existence of the document with Cengic's signature, but established that it could only help the BIO company to register itself for the arms and ammunition production. The production itself required additional documents and there is no evidence that they were sought or issued or that Cengc was involved in such dealings.
Given that prosecutors did not present any other evidence on Cengic's alleged overstepping his authorities, the Court decided to dismiss the charges as untenable.
Judge Swanson said that the prosecution can appeal this ruling, but that Cengic must immediately be given back his passport which he had handed over to the police as he had not been detained during the court proceedings.
Prosecutor Drew Engel announced an appeal.
Hasan Cengic is now a member of the House of Nations in Bosnia-Herzegovina's Parliament.
He was one of founders of the (Bosniak) Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and is regarded as one of the party's hawks.
Cengic openly criticises the current SDA leadership and its chief Sulejamn Tihic. For two years, Cengic has been on a list of persons whom the US administration bans arrival in the United States.