Press releases

TI BiH organizes a roundtable on disciplinary accountability of the judicial function holders

Announcements ● 27 February 2020

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) is organizing a roundtable entitled „Disciplinary Accountability of the Judicial Function Holders“ at which TI BiH will present the Analysis of disciplinary accountability of the judicial function holders in BiH from the point of legal framework, but also the practice of determining disciplinary accountability of judges and prosecutors. (more…)

TI BiH presents results of the Center for Legal Advice for 2019

Announcements ● 26 February 2020

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) is organizing a press conference to present the results achieved in 2019 by the Center for Legal Advice. (more…)

Further politicization of clinically dead public administration reform

Press releases ● 10 February 2020

Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH), Foreign Policy Initiative BiH (VPI) and UG Why Do Not Invite the BiH Council of Ministers to reconsider the Proposal of the Decision on Amendments to the Decision on Establishment of Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Offices in the Cabinet of the BiH Council of Ministers concerning the appointment of the Chief Public Administration Reform Coordinator. (more…)

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has refused to publish an indictment against Dragan Mektic and others

Press releases ● 05 February 2020

Due to the great public interest in this case, as well as the process of confirming the indictment, TI BiH requested complete information, but the Prosecutor’s Office claims that there is no public interest in this case. (more…)

BiH is among the countries that are falling behind the most in the fight against corruption

Press releases ● 23 January 2020

According to the Corruption Perceptions Index list, BiH dropped 11 places, receiving the worst rating in eight years, and is among the countries lagging behind the most in the fight against corruption.

Sarajevo, 23. January 2020 – According to the Corruption Perceptions Index, Bosnia and Herzegovina was rated 36 this year (on a scale of 0-100), the worst since 2012. Since the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has been based on the existing methodology, thus ranking among the countries that are continuously declining globally. In the ranking list of the Index published by Transparency International, BiH fell by 11 places compared to last year and together with Kosovo took 101. position of 180 states. Of the countries in the region, the best placed is Croatia, which is still three places behind and ranks 63rd. position, Montenegro and Serbia received the same rating as in previous years and occupy 66th and 91st, respectively. position, and Northern Macedonia is with 93. fell to 106. place and holds the worst position in the region.

According to the report, such a large decline in BiH was mostly due to irregularities in the conduct of elections, laws in the field of financing political parties and election campaigns, which did not allow citizens the right to free and fair elections, as TI BiH pointed out. campaigns. BiH is thus one of the countries that, due to the constant increase of the most serious forms of political corruption, are not able to provide their citizens with basic human rights.

Brutal repression and threats to voters, manipulation of voter lists and election results, along with the full mobilization of state resources in the service of the ruling parties, distance the country from political responsibility and democratization. As a result of irregular elections, BiH authorities have very questionable legitimacy, which further compromises the appointment of convicted criminals to the highest executive positions. Parliaments, deprived of any function of parliamentary oversight, reduce parliamentarians to mere spokespersons of party leaders, without the possibility of any of the anti-corruption laws, such as conflict of interest laws, political party financing or the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, in a unlikely position to be adopted.

Full political and control of organized crime over the judiciary requires priority action. Unfortunately, the initiative of civil society organizations to conduct detailed inspections (vetting) of all judicial office holders was ignored by the BiH authorities, but also by the EU. This is also part of the broader problem of the lack of implementation of the EU Strategy for the Western Balkans.

“BiH is in a situation where corruption has become an official state, entity and cantonal policy, and this can be seen in every single move of institutions – if you analyze any appointment, tender, regulation, you will see that it is a very clear particular interest. behind them “, pointed out the chairman of the Board of TI BiH Srdjan Blagovcanin, commenting on the findings of the Corruption Perception Index.

Based on detailed and comprehensive analyzes, TI BiH has prepared a proposal of measures that should address the causes of corruption in a systematic way, related to improving the election process, reforming the judiciary with a focus on vetting, detailed systematic reviews and audits of the public sector and public enterprises. to result in their rationalization and depoliticization.

Press rls 23.1.2020.

CPI 2019 final

TI BiH presents the Corruption Perception Index 2019

Announcements ● 22 January 2020

Transparency international in BiH (TI BiH) is organizing a press conference to present the results of global report on Corruption Perception Index – CPI for 2019, which will be held on Thursday, 23rd January at 09.00h at the Hotel Courtyard Marriot in Sarajevo. (more…)

Appointment of Darko Ćulum as Director of SIPA will undermine citizens’ trust in the security sector

Press releases ● 21 January 2020

TI BiH calls on the Council of Ministers not to appoint Darko Ćulum as the director of SIPA, because that would mean appointing a person against whom one of the most important law enforcement institutions is being prosecuted for the most serious forms of violations of human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

Banja Luka, 21. January 2020 – Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) calls on the Council of Ministers to reject Security Minister Fahrudin Radončić’s proposal to appoint Darko Ćulum as director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA). TI BiH reminds the Council of Ministers and the public that Darko Ćulum was the head of the Republika Srpska Police at a time when this institution was facing serious accusations of violations of basic human rights and freedoms.

The citizens of Banja Luka reported to the Ombudsman, civil society organizations and internal police controls cases of harassment in police premises, use of excessive force and unprofessional behavior of several police officers, especially towards civil activists. At the same time, contrary to international practice, and contrary to the warnings of domestic and international organizations, the Police, led by Darko Ćulum, focused all its resources on banning public gatherings in Banja Luka for a certain group of people. at the request of several citizens. TI BiH has also filed several criminal charges against police officers on suspicion of violent behavior and abuse of office in connection with police powers, all of which were directed against members of the Justice for David group and other Banja Luka citizens recognized as supporters of the group.

TI BiH believes that the appointment of Darko Ćulum as director of SIPA, or the institution whose mandate is to fight organized and serious crime, only leads to further undermining public confidence in government, and their commitment to ending crime and corruption. TI BiH calls on the Council of Ministers not to appoint Darko Ćulum as the director of SIPA, because that would mean appointing a person against whom one of the most important law enforcement institutions is being prosecuted for the most serious forms of violations of human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

Press rls 21.01.2020.

A new way of selecting members of the HJPC

Press releases ● 14 December 2019

“ The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) urgently adopts measures to address the problems identified in the relevant reports on the state of the judiciary prepared by the EU, other international institutions and civil society organizations” is the main message of the conference “Judiciary in BiH: Status and Perspectives” held today in Sarajevo by Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH).

The conference presented an analysis of the situation in the BH judiciary, prepared in cooperation with TI BiH by legal expert and judge of the Court of BiH Branko Perić, which showed that the key problems are “lack of interest of the authorities in stabilizing the system and obvious penetration of politics into the judiciary through the levers in the HJPC “. The analysis also contains recommendations for improving the justice system, as well as improving the accountability and integrity of judicial office holders. Among other things, the recommendations refer to steps in the reform process that would include the adoption of a new law on the HJPC that would define the criteria for selecting members of the regulatory body, as well as interventions in procedural legislation and the organization of the judiciary. Also, the importance of clear and precise regulation of the responsibilities of members of regulatory bodies in the judiciary is emphasized, in order to sanction improper, inefficient and biased performance of duties of members of that body. Taking into account all relevant reports and assessments on corruption in the judiciary, TI BiH proposed a comprehensive re-evaluation of all judges and prosecutors, following the example of the method implemented in Albania. Such a reform measure would involve the introduction of temporary and specialized regulatory evaluation bodies, composed of independent non-judicial legal experts, with the participation of international experts. Through several instances, in addition to the right to appeal, they should check all judges and prosecutors as follows: 1) verification of competencies; 2) checking personal backgrounds and connections with organized crime and 3) checking property.

Also, the results of monitoring the prosecution of corruption crimes for 2018 were presented at the conference. year, as well as the first 6 months of 2019. prepared by TI BiH, and OSCE and BIRN reports on monitoring the processing of corruption cases. According to the findings of TI BiH, all resolved investigations into corruption offenses in the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH during the first 6 months of 2019. were resolved by issuing an Order suspending the investigation, and The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH in the first 6 months of 2019 did not file a single indictment for corruption offenses.

A conference on the situation in the BH judiciary was held on the occasion of the International Anti-Corruption Day, with the support of the Swedish Development Agency SIDA. The conference was attended by some of the most eminent legal experts from the country, and was attended by representatives of the HJPC, the Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor, representatives of courts and prosecutors’ offices, and representatives of international organizations, civil society organizations, media and academia.

TI BiH organizes conference entitled „BiH Judiciary: Status and Perspectives“

Announcements ● 12 December 2019

Due to the celebration of the International Anti-Corruption Day, Transparency International in BiH, financially supported by the Swedish International Development Agency SIDA, is organizing a conference entitled „BiH Judiciary: Status and Perspectives“, which will be held on Friday, 13th December 2019 at the Hotel Bristol Novotel Sarajevo, at 10.0h.

Sarajevo, 12th December 2019 – Due to the celebration of the International Anti-Corruption Day, Transparency International in BiH, financially supported by the Swedish International Development Agency SIDA, is organizing a conference entitled „BiH Judiciary: Status and Perspectives“, which will be held on Friday, 13th December 2019 at the Hotel Bristol Novotel Sarajevo, at 10.0h.

The conference will be an opportunity to present the analysis „BiH Judiciary: Status and Perspectives“, made as a result of cooperation between TI BiH and Mr. Branko Peric, dealing with the current status of BiH judiciary. Specific emphasis is put on the functioning of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC), election and appointment procedures, integrity and accountability of the judicial function holders, but the analysis also provides recommendations for the improvement of BiH judiciary.

The conference will also serve as a place to present the results of monitoring prosecution of corruption offenses in 2018, and in the first 6 months of 2019, prepared by TI BiH, including the reports prepared by OSCE and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) referring to the monitoring prosecution of corruption cases.

Please find the agenda attached.

Press conference is planned to be held at 10.10h.

Press rls 12_12_2019_e

Conference “Challenges of the Public Procurement System in Bosnia and Herzegovina”

Press releases ● 10 December 2019

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) and the Center for Media Development and Analysis (CRMA) are organizing a conference “Challenges of the Public Procurement System in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, which will serve as an opportunity to discuss activities and plans to improve the legal framework on public procurement in BiH, with a focus on key anti-corruption activities in this area. (more…)

International Conference „Time to Act: Reality of Anticorruption Policies“

Announcements ● 28 November 2019

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH), with the support of the Swedish Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is organizing International Conference  “Time to Act: Reality of Anticorruption Policies” which will be held on November 29, 2019 at the Swissôtel Hotel in Sarajevo, starting at 09:30.

Sarajevo, November 28, 2019 – Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH), with the support of the Swedish Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is organizing International Conference  “Time to Act: Reality of Anticorruption Policies” which will be held on November 29, 2019 at the Swissôtel Hotel in Sarajevo, starting at 09:30.

At the Conference, international experts will discuss the urging challenges in the fight against corruption from the perspective of academics and practitioners. They will address the question of responsibility for the capture of the state by the elite and how to fight corruption in such an environment, and will also offer solutions to lowering society’s apathy towards detecting corruption. They will also consider why certain approaches in fight against corruption succeed in some places while in others they do not produce results at all, and will try to resolve the key dilemma: has anti-corruption failed, and whether the approach to the fight against corruption is wrong and if the fight against corruption is a political or technical issue.

Some of the leading anti-corruption experts from the world and the region will try to answer these questions, including:

• Jose Ugaz, prosecutor who prosecuted the notorious Peruvian President Fujimori and the secretary of the secret service Montesinos who subsequently led the global front against corruption as chairman of Transparency International.
• Drago Kos, chairman of the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions, as well as one of the chairmen of the MENA-OECD Business Integrity Network, and Defense Corruption Monitoring Committee (NAKO) in Ukraine, and adviser to the Anti-Corruption Agency in Kosovo.
• Paul M. Heywood, Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, and currently works in Washington with Global Integrity, where he is the leader of the Anti-Corruption Evidence Program (GI-ACE)..
• Jasmin Mujanović, political scientist with a doctoral degree from York University with a specialization in post-authoritarian regimes and post-conflict democratization and a political science professor at Elon University.
• Anna Persson Professor and Lecturer at the Department of Political Science of Gothenburg University, a member of the governing board of the Institute for Government Quality (QoG), as well as the Center for Globalization and Development in Gothenburg (GCGD).

The event will bring together academics and practitioners, representatives of relevant domestic institutions, international organizations, civil society organizations and others.

The media will be addressed by H.E. Johanna Strömquist, Swedish Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srđan Blagovčanin, Chairman of the Board, Transparency International in BiH, Drago Kos, Chairman of the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions, and Senada Šelo Šabić, Senior Researcher, Department of International Economics and Political Relations at the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO) in Zagreb.

Satetements to the media are planned at 9:30 p.m. Detailed information on the agenda can be found below.

Press rls 28_11_2019_e

Address by civil society organizations from BiH on the preparation of a report on the situation in the judiciary

Press releases ● 19 November 2019

Anti-corruption fight in health-care sector: The formal signing of memorandum on understanding due to the establishment of cooperation with 15 public health care institutions

Announcements ● 13 November 2019

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BIH) and Centers for Civic Initiatives (CCI) would like to invite you to attend the ceremony of Formal signing of memorandum of understanding on cooperation with 15 public health care institutions, which shall be held in Sarajevo, on Thursday, 14/11/2019 at 12.00h, at the premises of the Hotel Holiday (Zmaja od Bosne 4, Sarajevo). This event is organized as part of the project financed by the European Union, aimed at prevention of corruption and anti-corruption fight in health care sector.

The ceremony of formal signing of memorandum, which will be attended by representatives of 15 public health care institutions that will take participation in the project, will mark the beginning of cooperation aimed at improving the system of prevention and anti-corruption fight in health care sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Memorandum will be signed by: Cantonal Hospital Bihac; Health care center Travnik; Health care center Lopare; Health care center Banja Luka; General Hospital „Abdulah Nakas“ Sarajevo; University Clinical Center Tuzla; Health care center Bijeljina; Hospital Doboj; Hospital Gradiska; University Hospital Foca; Health center Brcko; Health care center Tomislavgrad; Health care center „Isak Samokovlija“ Gorazde; General Hospital Konjic; Cantonal Hospital Zenica.

Press conference is planned to be held at 12:15. The media will be addressed by:

• Emsad Dizdarevic,Transparency International in BiH
• Slaven Divicic, Centers for Civic Initiatives
• Representatives of health care institutions (University Clinical Center Tuzla and Health care center Lopare)

Press rls 14.11.2019_e

International Conference: “Time to Act: Reality of Anti-corruption Policies

Announcements ● 06 November 2019

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TIBiH) with the support of Embassy of Sweden is organizing International Conference “Time to Act: Reality of Anti-corruption Policies” which will be held on the 29 of November, 2019 in Hotel Swissôtel in Sarajevo.

The overall theme of the Conference is to address the issue of lack of progress in curbing corruption and the approach in setting up anti-corruption policies. The Conference will be a platform for academics and practitioners to discuss the urging challenges in the fight against corruption and provide a forum for exchange of ideas, knowledge and practices that would address the key dilemma: has anti-corruption failed? Some of the leading international and regional experts among which are Jose Ugaz, Drago Kos, Paul M. Heywood, Anna Persson, Senada Šelo-Šabić, will attempt to provide an answer to this dilemma.

Invitation Letter_Time to Act_Reality of Anticorruption Policies_TI BIH

Dismissed prosecutor Sasa Labotic decides – there will be no investigation against “Friends of Vlado Djajic”

Press releases ● 01 November 2019

One of the last prosecutorial decisions of the recently dismissed prosecutor Sasa Labotić is the order not to conduct an investigation against persons who presented themselves as “Friends of Vlado Đajić”, due to the misuse of patients’ personal data for political purposes.

Banja Luka, 1. November 2019 – One of the last prosecutorial decisions of the recently dismissed prosecutor Sasa Labotić is the order not to conduct an investigation against persons who presented themselves as “Friends of Vlado Đajić”, due to misuse of patients’ personal data for political purposes. Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH) has filed a criminal complaint against these individuals with the Banja Luka District Public Prosecutor’s Office (Prosecutor’s Office) based on an audio recording of a woman’s voice urging citizens to vote for Dr. Djajic.

The report due to the misuse of personal data was submitted in October last year, and the Prosecutor’s Office determined the identity of the persons who called the citizens for a year. In the end, it was established that the calls came from the official phone of the University Clinical Center of RS (UCC RS), but even that was not enough to open an investigation.

Vlado Đajić was also questioned by the police as a witness, who stated that he did not know the numbers from which citizens were invited to vote for him. He stated that he had never given anyone a list of patients, and that he knew that his personal data should not be used for political purposes. However, the use of the list of patients for political purposes for the prosecution is not disputable, so it remains unclear why evidence was collected at all, because prosecutor Labotić finally issued an order not to conduct an investigation. It states that the telephone number given for the purposes of health records is not personal data, and therefore no criminal offense has been committed.

TI BIH filed a complaint to the Collegium of Prosecutors, emphasizing that according to the Law on Personal Data Protection of BIH, the telephone number certainly represents personal data and its unauthorized use enjoys criminal legal protection. TI BiH is of the opinion that in this particular case all elements of the criminal offense of Unauthorized Use of Personal Data have been fulfilled and that this is obvious on the basis of an audio recording in which an unknown person admits that the phone numbers are from the list of patients examined by Dr. Djajic. Also, it is unclear how the Prosecutor’s Office failed to establish the identity of the persons who present themselves as “Friends of Vlado Đajić”, because this group has a page on the social network through which it monitors the work of the doctor and his political activities.

It is interesting that this decision of the prosecution is one of the last ones signed by the controversial prosecutor Saša Labotić, only five days before he was dismissed by the decision of the HJPC for hiding the information that he was convicted. Labotic became known to the general public as the prosecutor who filed the indictment against the murdered David Dragicevic, six days after his body was found, which is considered one of the biggest scandals in the history of BiH justice.

Press rls 11/1/2019

Anti-corruption training for employees in institutions in Sarajevo Canton

Press releases ● 18 October 2019

Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) will hold a series of trainings for employees of Sarajevo Canton institutions on the construction of preventive mechanisms against corruption and the importance of transparency in the next four months, starting today (October 18, 2019). The trainings are intended for civil servants, but also for other employees of institutions, public companies and other cantonal institutions.

The aim of the training is to acquaint employees in public institutions with the forms of corruption, prevention mechanisms (proactive transparency) and channels for reporting corruption. The trainings will combine theoretical and practical knowledge, international standards and global experience in the fight against corruption of Transparency International.

Representatives of the Government of the Sarajevo Canton will acquaint the participants with the public policies of the Government in the field of the fight against corruption and publicity of work.

The trainings are held as a form of institutional support to the Government of the Sarajevo Canton, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Administration of the KS, and with the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The project plans a total of eight trainings for more than one hundred and fifty participants.