The prosecution charges Knežević with disclosing official secrets.
Prosecutor of the Special Department of the Federal Prosecutor's Office for Combating Corruption, Organized and Inter-Cantonal Crime, Nina Šahinpašić, read the indictment charging Knežević with using the TikTok platform between May 16 and 20 of last year to send a photograph/screenshot of an accompanying document from the Information of the Intelligence-Security Agency of BiH (OSABiH) related to a criminal case of the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office to Sreten Manojlović, as well as another page of that document containing communication between certain persons marked with the confidentiality classification "confidential."
"The confidentiality marking had not been removed. Prosecutors at all levels in the Federation of BiH who have legal authority to access classified data are obligated to protect classified data until the marking is removed, regardless of how they obtained it," said Šahinpašić.
She also reminded that Knežević had already been sanctioned by decisions of the disciplinary commission of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC).
"The prosecutor is the voice of those who cannot speak. The prosecutor speaks on behalf of society and has the power to make society better. They must not be guided by personal gain," emphasized Šahinpašić.
Damir Beglerović, the defense attorney for the accused Knežević, stated that the Defense believes the Special Department for Corruption, Organized and Inter-Cantonal Crime does not have actual jurisdiction in this case. Previously, Judge Mersudin Pružan rejected his objection to jurisdiction, after which he said he would appeal to the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH.
The prosecution's first witness, Sreten Manojlović, testified that on May 15 of last year, he had a "live" session with Amir Pašić Faćo on social media where they discussed the situation in Sarajevo. He mentioned then, as he said, prosecutor Knežević, stating that she had received two apartments from Almir Serdarević.
"After the 'live' session ended, I received a message from the TikTok profile 'J Sparta' saying that person had proof I was wrong. I got the impression I might have made a mistake and said to send me the proof, that I would gladly publish a retraction. She replied that she would send me the proof tomorrow at six o'clock when she finished work. In the end, I received that document," said Manojlović.
He stated that he published part of the content but removed it after a warning from his sister, and noted that he received "strictly confidential" documents, after which the next day he went to the police and filed a criminal report against Knežević, where his phone was inspected.
Sarajevo Canton MUP investigator Džanan Skopljak confirmed that the police acted upon the report, conducted a phone inspection, and, by order of the prosecution, searched the office of the accused, where an OSA document was found containing a transcript of intercepted conversations and statements by Saudin Porović. The collected evidence was submitted to the Court and the Prosecutor's Office, and the phone was forensically examined by the competent agency.
The defense will cross-examine this witness at the next hearing on April 22, reports BIRN.