Over 1,300 witnesses and victims of corruption requested legal assistance from TI BIH, most complaints against the state administration and judiciary

Banja Luka, March 26, 2024 – During the past year, Transparency International’s Legal Aid Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina received 1,337 calls from citizens and handled 317 cases related to specific cases of corruption. Among the reporting structure, there were mostly witnesses (42.2%) and victims of corruption (28.3%), followed by public sector employees or so-called whistleblowers (12.6%) who reported corruption in the workplace. The number of whistleblowers (a total of 40 in 2023) who turn to TI BiH is again far, far greater than the number of persons who receive the status of protected corruption whistleblowers from the competent institutions, which clearly shows that citizens still do not have enough trust in the system.

As in previous years, the largest number of cases was relating to the state administration sector (135), where citizens reported the most irregularities in the field of employment. In one of the cases, the Institution of the Ombudsman for the Protection of Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a recommendation to the Railways of the Republic of Srpska and the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the RS to remove discriminatory treatment during employment in this public company. Also, acting on the TI BIH repoert, the Public Procurement Agency of BiH submitted a request for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings to the misdemeanor department of the competent Municipal Court in Sarajevo against “Lutrije BiH” because this contracting authority in the procurement of advertising on web portals referred to precisely specified portals, among which there are even some without advertising space.

Last year, there is also a case in which, after the action of TI BiH, the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy determined that the competent service of the Zenica-Doboj Canton is obliged to pay one-time assistance to 3,043 unemployed persons who were initially denied this assistance.

After public administration, the largest number of proceedings of TI BiH was recorded in the field of justice (38), and in one of the most significant cases, TI BiH filed a disciplinary report against the Chief Prosecutor of BiH Milanko Kajganić, who assigned most of the cases outside the TCMS automatic management system, which is why his predecessor in this position, Gordana Tadić, was dismissed. Last year, TI BiH initiated 30 cases related to conflict of interest before the competent institutions, and after the State Commission was recently unblocked, the first sanctions were imposed against the director of the Communications Regulatory Agency of BiH, Draško Milinović, while proceedings were initiated against State Minister Sevlid Hurtić and the new director of BH Telekom, Amel Kovačević.

2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the Center for Providing Legal Aid in the fight against corruption, which stood by numerous citizens whose rights were threatened, or who witnessed corrupt acts. It is important to point out that the trends have changed and that in previous years, reports were mainly related to doctors and police officers receiving bribes. Now, citizens report more abuse of official positions by holders of judicial functions, as well as violations of the law by police authorities, which is particularly controversial because these are institutions that should have a leading role in the fight against corruption.

In the coming period, TI BiH will continue to provide legal assistance to citizens who are facing corruption, who can contact us anonymously via the free number 0800 55555 and the online platform prijavikorupciju.org. TI BiH especially invites whistleblowers, or persons who report corruption from their immediate work environment, to contact us in case they need legal support.