[1] On 7 March 2001, Jelavić was removed from office by the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wolfgang Petritsch.

Petritsch justified his decision by observing that Jelavić had "directly violated the constitutional order of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of Bosnia and Herzegovina"; in particular he cited Jelavić's leading role in the 'Croatian National Assembly' rally in Mostar on 3 March 2001, calling for a separate governing entity for Bosnian Croats.

The findings of guilt related, in part, to the use of funds from the Federal Ministry of Defence to purchase shares in banking and insurance firms Hercegovačka Banka and Herzegovina Osiguranje.

[citation needed] His attorney, Dragan Barbarić, acting in his client's absence, initiated a successful appeal against the first instance verdict on the grounds that it lacked proper factual description of the offence and as such was in violation of criminal procedural law.

On 4 July 2006, with the verdict revoked, the appeal panel, presided over by Judge Nedžad Popovac, called for new proceedings in which evidence presented at the first trial will be re-presented and in which new evidence may also be presented.