International Whistleblower Day! TI BiH published devastating data on the protection of whistleblowers in BiH

BiH citizens rarely choose to report corruption because they fear the consequences, and official data show devastating results when it comes to the protection provided to whistleblowers by official institutions.. In the Federation of BiH, there is no law at all that protects those who report corruption, while the application of such laws that exist at the state level and in the Republika Srpska has had very bad effects. The figures presented by Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH) today in Sarajevo at a conference on the occasion of the 23rd. June, International Whistleblower Day show that the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption of BiH (APIK) since 2014. received only 32 applications.

The majority was rejected because, among other things, it was suspected that corruption was reported in “good faith” and only in 10 cases the applicants were granted protection. One of them is the well-known whistleblower from the ITA BiH, Emir Mešić, who was fired after speaking about corruption, and APIK refused to use his authority and protect him from disciplinary prosecution. He said at today’s conference in Sarajevo that the authorities do not aim to protect the whistleblowers because they are afraid of chain reactions.

– Because whistleblowers open internal problems related to government structures, and then if one whistleblower succeeds, the whole structure falls, from the prosecutor’s office and courts to heads of institutions suspected of corruption , said Emir Mesic, who is trying to get his rights in court after his dismissal.

The situation is no better in the Republika Srpska either, where only two requests for judicial protection of whistleblowers have been submitted in the five years of application of this law. Regardless of the fact that the law in RS has a better model of protection, the distrust of citizens in the judiciary and the overall atmosphere where the highest officials even publicly threaten anyone who speaks about corruption, have led to devastating results that show that no applicant sought protection last year.

In the Brcko District, the law was adopted in 2018. but its application has only recently begun and four applications have already been received. The adoption of this law in the Federation of BiH has been blocked in the House of Peoples since 2018. year when it was adopted in the form of a draft in the House of Representatives. Members of the FBiH Parliament who were present at the conference today stated that the opportunity to resolve this issue was repeatedly missed due to political obstructions.

At the conference, TI BIH also presented a comparative analysis of the situation in this area in BiH and Serbia, where it is evident that the neighboring country with 842 resolved cases of whistleblower protection has more efficient mechanisms, but some scandals such as the “Krushik” case show that whistleblowers have no guarantee persecuted.

Also, the conference concluded that whistleblowers in BiH need greater support from institutions through legal assistance currently provided only by NGOs, and that there are currently no positive examples that have received a judicial epilogue and that would encourage citizens to report corruption.

Press rls_23.06.22_

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