Former Serbian Highway Director convicted of corruption

The Belgrade Court of Appeal sentenced the former director of the “Roads of Serbia” EP, Branko Jocic, to a single sentence of five years in prison for taking bribes and abusing his official position during 2006 and 2007 in connection with rehabilitation for landslides .

This decision confirmed part of the first instance verdict that in May 2019 sentenced Jocic, as well as two other businessmen of the “Rotijer” company, Dragan Pavlovic and Milan Josipovic, to terms of five and three years in prison, respectively, for the crime of abuse of office. person in charge.

The part of the verdict for which Predrag Todosic was sentenced to two years in prison, was overturned by the Court of Appeals, because it considers that the verdict exceeded the indictment in that part, and ordered that his trial be repeated, was published today in the website of the Court of Appeals.

The upheld verdict against Jocic also imposed a measure that prohibits him from carrying out vocations, activities and duties related to the disposition, use, management or administration of the property of others or maintaining that property for a period of three years.

The measure will apply after the verdict is final, with the exception that time spent in prison is not included in the duration of this measure.

Jocic’s nearly 14 months in detention are included in his prison sentence, as are the other convicts in this case.

Furthermore, against Jocic’s mother, Radmila Jocic, the accusation was previously rejected as permanently insane, but the court seized her 63-square-meter apartment in Loznica.

The Ministry of Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure was subjected to litigation to enforce the property claim.

Jocic was found guilty on various charges.

The reasoning of the verdict of the Court of Appeals establishes, among other things, that the court of first instance correctly concluded that there was a cause and effect relationship between the official action taken by Jocic and the gift received by his mother, which was paid with the account of the company “Rotijer”. that Jocic knew that by signing the contract, he was creating the illusion that the public company of which he was CEO would supposedly manage the projects.

Regarding the crime relating to the Loznica and Krupanj locations, the Court of Appeals declares that the trial court correctly concluded that Jocic was guilty, taking into account that “it is vital and logical that it is the same CEO of PE ‘Roads of Serbia ‘and a person with acquired higher education, was clear that the contracts he signed contain deficiencies that impede any technical execution of the projects mentioned in them, that is, he knew who was authorized to prepare the technical documentation ”.

According to the Court of Appeals, Jocic, Pavlovic and Josipovic carried out actions that did not comply with the laws and statutes in force at that time.

As is also noted in the decision, they had a very informal and arbitrary approach, which was manifested in the initialization of contracts that were not registered, carrying out works that do not represent the remediation of landslides, not keeping a construction record at the construction sites where the works were carried out.

In addition, the construction journal was not certified by the prescribed seal of the responsible contractor, because the responsible contractor was not determined, in accordance with the Construction Planning Law, so no complaints were made daily about which person was authorized to be entered in the construction journal.

In relation to Pavlović, the court legally rejected the charge that he committed the crime of bribery.

Earlier, at the request of the prosecution, the court decided to temporarily confiscate seven properties in Serbia and Montenegro of Jocic and his relatives, as well as 12 watches, because there is a suspicion that they were acquired illegally. After the condemnation of the final judgment, a procedure for permanent confiscation of said assets must be initiated.

Jocic and 15 other defendants have another procedure before the Special Court on the second accusation of abuses in the company “Roads of Serbia”.

(Kurir.rs/Tanjug)

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