SARAJEVO, Nov 22 (Hina) - The Appeals Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled on Wednesday that the president of the Bosnian Croat HDZ BiH party, Dragan Covic, who had been sentenced to five years in prison last
week for abuse of office, should remain in custody.
SARAJEVO, Nov 22 (Hina) - The Appeals Chamber of the State Court
of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled on Wednesday that the president of the Bosnian
Croat HDZ BiH party, Dragan Covic, who had been sentenced to five years in
prison last week for abuse of office, should remain in custody. The
court rejected a defence motion for provisional release pending the
announcement of a final judgement, citing a risk of Covic escaping.
Covic's lawyer Josip Muselimovic said that the further detention of his
client was in violation of the Criminal Procedure Act and the European Human
Rights Convention, adding that Covic had stated that he would not leave his
place of residence without the court's permission and had pledged his property,
which is estimated at 250,000 euros.