The Indictment alleges
that, at around 4 p.m. on 07 February 2014, the accused Hatibović arrived in
his vehicle in front of the building of the Presidency of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and then he took some bottles with flammable liquid, or the
so-called “Molotov Cocktails”, out of the trunk of his vehicle and shared them
among the violent protesters, including the accused Nihad Trnka. The protesters
used them to set official and police vehicles of the Directorate for
Coordination of Police Bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina on fire, and they were
throwing those bottles inside the building of the Presidency of Bosnia and
Herzegovina in order to cause fire.
Furthermore, it is
alleged that the accused Hatibović used the already prepared incendiary devices
to cause fire at the police gatehouse on the west side of the Presidency of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the accused Trnka approached the building from
Maršala Tita Street, where the ceremonial entrance to the building was, and he
broke the windows on the right side of the building where the Archive of Bosnia
and Herzegovina was situated, whereupon he used open flame to light a piece of
paper and throw it through the window and inside the premises of the Archive of
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Then he went to the east side of the building and used
a lighter to set the curtains in that room on fire, after which he and other
protesters blocked all the accesses to the building of the Presidency of Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
The aforementioned
actions caused great material damage to the building of the Presidency of
Bosnia and Herzegovina and other institutions, amounting to BAM 400,000, and
destroyed the archive materials of inestimable value for the cultural and historical
heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
These accused persons
are charged with putting people’s lives at risk and endangering considerable
amount of property, as well as with incurring property damage of a larger scale,
whereby they committed a serious criminal offense against the general safety of
persons and property.
The Prosecutor’s Office
of Bosnia and Herzegovina has conducted a thorough investigation in this case
and it will prove the guilt of these accused persons by calling around 35
witnesses and 5 expert witnesses from various areas of expertise to testify,
whereas more than 50 pieces of evidence have been submitted together with the
Indictment, including video recordings of the aforementioned events.
Moreover, the
Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina resumes its activities aimed at
identification and prosecution of other persons who participated in the
destruction and burning of the building of the Presidency of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and other institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 