Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 22/7/2025; Author: Amar Karađuz
False news claiming that the European Court of Human Rights ordered the release of Fadil Novalić and Fahrudin Solak, convicted in the “Respirators Affair”, was published on dozens of portals and went viral on social media. Acting representatives of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina before the Court in Strasbourg confirmed that the Court had merely requested statements from the parties in the case “Novalić and Solak v. Bosnia and Herzegovina”. However it has not issued any ruling in favor of the applicants.
In January 2024, the Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH upheld the first-instance judgment in a high-profile corruption case against former Federation Prime Minister Fadil Novalić and former Civil Protection Administration Director Fahrudin Solak. Known publicly as the “Respirators Affair,” the case ended with Novalić being sentenced to four years and Solak to six years in prison.
In November 2024, the Constitutional Court of BiH partially accepted appeals of the convicted parties, but without overturning the convictions or ordering a retrial.
Fikret Hodžić, who is the legal entity of the company “F.H. Srebrena malina” d.o.o. Srebrenica, was also convicted, sentenced to prison and a fine. However, the Constitutional Court annulled those verdicts, finding a violation of the right to a fair trial. The case was referred back to the Court of BiH.
Since the partial appeal decisions for Fadil Novalić and Fahrudin Solak exhausted all domestic legal remedies, their legal teams were entitled to file an application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. Novalić’s legal team announced this intention immediately after the Constitutional Court ruling.
On July 13, 2025, the portal Politički published an article claiming that the ECHR had already ruled in favor of Novalić and Solak. The article alleged that the Court had found violations of fair trial principles and ordered the Court of BiH to release the defendants in agreement with their legal teams.
POLITIČKI: Strasbourg Court Rules in Favor of Novalić and Solak
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg today delivered a verdict in the case of Fadil Novalić and Fahrudin Solak, finding that their fundamental human rights were violated during the proceedings before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Politički.ba has learned.
The reasoning of the verdict states that the principles of a fair trial were violated, including the right to a defense and fair treatment before the court. As a result, the Human Rights Court ordered the Court of BiH to release the defendants in consultation with both legal teams.
The article was shared the same day on the Senad Pećanin’s Facebook profile, an attorney who was a member of Novalić’s defense team. Dozens of other portals quickly republished Politički’s claims without any verification.
Some portals even ran headlines claiming it was already known when Novalić might be released (link, link, link).
Strasbourg: It is known when Fadil Novalić could be released (Senzor)
However, in these articles, the claim of an ECHR ruling was denied. It was explained that the Court had only requested from the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina to submit its response. These articles were referring to the Facebook post made by the portal Istraga, where it is stated that the decision would not be made by the end of this year.
After some media outlets reported that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had ruled in favor of Fadil Novalić and Fahrudin Solak, the portal Istraga.ba clarified that such a ruling has not yet been issued.
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Only if no agreement is reached, and after both parties submit their statements, will the Court consider the merits of the case and issue a final decision. The decision will not be made before the end of this year, Istraga.ba emphasizes.
Claims that the ECHR ruled in favor of Novalić and Solak, that the Court ordered their release, and similar assertions were also shared on media such as Facebook and Instagram (link, link, link). Dozens of Facebook posts featured a visual from the portal Novi which claims that the Strasbourg Court had ruled in favor of Fadil Novalić. In the comments under these posts (link, link), links were shared leading to articles on anonymous portals Dragulj FM and Web izrada sajtova, which contained claims regarding Novalić’s alleged release.
What are the Facts?
Shortly after the claims appeared that the Strasbourg Court had ruled in favor of Novalić and Solak, Fadil Novalić’s lawyer Elmir Jahić told BHRT that he had “received mail from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in the case of Fadil Novalić,” without claiming that any type of decision had been issued by the Court. He also stated that he had been “warned of strict confidentiality, which is why he cannot speak publicly about anything related to this case.”
That same day, the acting representative of the Council of Ministers of BiH before the Strasbourg Court, Monika Mijić, told Avaz that the European Court had only delivered the lawsuits of Novalić and Solak to the legal representatives of BiH and that the process was still at the very beginning. This means that the parties in the case were simply asked to respond, she noted.
On July 15, 2025, BHRT also published a statement by another acting representative of the Council of Ministers before the ECHR, Bojan Bajić:
“In response to your inquiry, I inform you that the case F.S. and Novalić v. Bosnia and Herzegovina has only just been received by the Office of the Agent of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina before the European Court of Human Rights and is still in the initial phase of the proceedings. Considering the confidentiality of the case, I inform you that there is no possibility of commenting on other details related to this case.”
In the database of published decisions in cases against Bosnia and Herzegovina before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, there are no documents related to the case of Fadil Novalić and Fahrudin Solak.
Thus, the claims that the Strasbourg Court has already ruled in favor of Fadil Novalić and Fahrudin Solak, or that it has made any decision regarding the appeal of the former Federation of BiH officials convicted before the BiH Court, are incorrect. The Court has only requested statements from the parties, which means the case is still in its initial stage.
According to the facts, the claims published in the Politički portal article, that the ECHR ruled in favor of Novalić and Solak and ordered the BiH Court to release them, are rated as fake news. Later publications repeating these claims are rated as spreading fake news.Headlines claiming that it is already known when Novalić will be released are rated as clickbait.
