PRESS RELEASES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Public administration is inefficient, cumbersome and politicized

Press releases ● 13 July 2015

Transparency International of Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) held a presentation of the analysis Efficiency and Efficiency in the Structures of State Public Administration Bodies in BiH, where the findings of the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) on procedures for hiring civil servants and agency directors were presented.

The situation in public administration is unsustainable and the reforms are not giving the desired results, especially considering the funds that have been invested in public administration reform so far, TI BIH emphasized at the presentation. Inefficiency and cumbersome administration, unprofessionalism, lack of transparency, accountability and integrity in public administration, and corruption and irrational spending of public funds are just some of the problems that BiH authorities urgently need to face. “It is unacceptable for the state to borrow to cover the administrative costs of overcrowded public administration, with about a third of the budget going to salaries for public sector employees, while citizens pay too little for inefficient and inefficient public administration due to such a policy,” said Lejla Ibranovic. Executive Director of TI BiH.

The Ambassador of Sweden to BiH, N.E., also addressed the media at the presentation. Fredrik Schiller, and Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative in BiH, HE Lars-Gunnar Wigemark. The Swedish ambassador emphasized that political leaders and government institutions must take more seriously and take responsibility for the reform processes, and that we must not forget that the citizens should ultimately feel the results of the implementation of reform activities. The head of the EU Delegation reminded that public administration reform is high on the list of EU priorities in the enlargement process, and that BiH has too expensive an administrative apparatus and that the problem of corruption is one of the key challenges. “Without addressing this issue, a step forward in the entire public administration reform process will not be possible, and one of the preconditions for an effective fight against corruption is a transparent and open public administration,” Wigemark said.

For the first time after a decade of activities in the field of public administration reform, TI BiH opened the issue of efficiency in the work of administrative bodies, focusing in the analysis on issues of individual efficiency of public administration employees, but also efficiency and effectiveness at the institutional level.

During the presentation, CIN gave examples of abuses in the process of employment in public administration, but also the consumption of public funds, which are a direct consequence of the lack of adequate bylaws that would regulate employment and spending procedures in individual areas.

TI BiH announced that in the coming period it will insist on locating clear political responsibility for reforms in public administration structures, and the priorities that TI BiH will work on in the coming period include: adjusting admission to management positions to the needs of the civil service, tightening the criteria for assessing the effectiveness of management staff in the administration, transparency of employment in the administration, objectification of the criteria used by commissions when assessing candidates, and harmonization of testing practices for admission to the civil service.

However, as a precondition for all the above, TI BiH emphasizes that it is necessary to return to the agenda as soon as possible all difficult issues that have been removed from the agenda for years, and those are primarily eliminating politicization in the process of admission and promotion and rationalization of public administration.

Press rls – 13 July 2015 doc

Presentation for the media on the public administration reform

Announcements ● 11 July 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) is organizing a presentation for the media on the reform of public administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at which TI BiH will present its findings regarding so-far achieved results of the reform, paying special attention to the employment procedures in public administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This will also be the opportunity to introduce the analysis entitled Efficiency and effectiveness of the civil service bodies in the administrative structures of BiH, while the representatives of the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) will present their findings on the employment of civil servants and directors of the agencies, as well as the lack of transparency in public spending.

Apart from the representatives of TI BiH and CIN, the media will also be addressed by His Excellency Mr. Fredrik Schiller, Ambassador of Sweden in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Head of EU Delegation to BiH and Special Representative in BiH, His Excellency Mr. Lars-Gunnar Wigermark.

Presentation for the media will be held on Monday, 13^th July 2015, at the Hotel Europe in Sarajevo, starting at 11.00 o’clock.

Presentations of the Strategy and Action Plan for the Fight against Corruption were held in three cantons

Press releases ● 08 July 2015

Sarajevo, 8. July 2015 – Transparency International of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (APIK), held presentations of the Strategy and Action Plan for the Fight against Corruption for the period 2015-2019. 25. June in Bosansko – Podrinje, 30. June in Central Bosnia and 2. July in Tuzla Canton.

The Anti-Corruption Strategy was adopted by the Council of Ministers in May 2015, and the aim of the presentations organized by TI BiH was to acquaint representatives of institutions in the mentioned cantons with the obligations arising from the new Strategy, so that its implementation can begin as soon as possible. was as efficient as possible. Namely, the experience with the implementation of the previous Strategy showed that one of the causes of insufficient implementation of measures from the Strategies and Action Plan lay in the fact that all actors who should have participated in the implementation were not timely or properly aware of their obligations.

The presentations were attended by representatives of the executive and legislative authorities of the canton, representatives of courts and prosecutor’s offices, public companies and public institutions, as well as representatives of the academic community, non-governmental organizations and the media. The participants were introduced to the process of adopting the Strategy, its content, and the individual pillars of the Strategy were presented in more detail, as well as individual measures from the Action Plan for its implementation. Special attention was given to the need to establish a coordination mechanism at the cantonal level, as well as to the models for establishing this mechanism.

The presentation was held as part of a project entitled “Strengthening Integrity and Good Governance for More Effective Implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy from the Local to the State Level”, funded by the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Presentation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the Fight against Corruption for the period 2015 – 2019 in the Tuzla Canton

Announcements ● 01 July 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH), in cooperation with the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (APIK), is organizing a presentation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the fight against corruption for the period 2015-2019 in the Tuzla Canton.

The presentation is aimed at introducing the Strategy content and measures provided by the Action plan to the representatives of executive and legislative authorities, public institutions and companies, and media and civil society. Special focus will be put on the obligation of establishing a coordination mechanism at the cantonal level, which is one of the key obligations of the cantonal government pursuant to the provisions of the new Strategy.

Presentation will be held on Thursday, 2^ndJuly 2015, at the hotel Tuzla in Tuzla, St. ZAVNOBIH no. 13, starting at 12 o’clock.

Presentation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the Fight against Corruption Tuzla Canton

Presentation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the Fight against Corruption for the period 2015-2019 in the Central Bosnia Canton

Announcements ● 29 June 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (APIK), is organizing a presentation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the fight against corruption for the period 2015-2019 in the Central Bosnia Canton.

The aim of the presentation is to make all the authorities of the Central Bosnia Canton familiar with the need of establishing a coordination mechanism at the cantonal level, and to introduce individual pillars of the Strategy for the fight against corruption, as well as individual measures of the Action plan for the implementation of the Strategy, all aimed at introducing the obligations arising from the new Strategy to all levels of cantonal government.

Representatives of executive and legislative authorities of the Central Bosnia Canton, representatives of public institutions and companies, as well as representatives of media and civil society are expected to take participation at the presentation.

 Presentation will be held on Tuesday, 30^th June 2015, at Central Hotel in Vitez, Poslovni centar no. 98, starting at 12 o’clock. The agenda is as follows.

Presentation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the Fight against Corruption CBC

Presentation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the Fight against Corruption in Bosnia-Podrinje Canton

Announcements ● 24 June 2015

Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH), in cooperation with the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (APIK), is organizing a presentation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the fight against corruption for the period 2015-2019 in Bosnia-Podrinje Canton.

The aim of the presentation is to make all the authorities of Bosnia-Podrinje Canton familiar with the need of establishing a coordination mechanism at the cantonal level, and to introduce individual segments of the Strategy for the fight against corruption, as well as measures of the Action plan for the implementation of the Strategy, all aimed at introducing the obligations arising from the new Strategy to all levels of cantonal government.

Representatives of executive and legislative authorities of Bosnia-Podrinje Canton, representatives of public institutions and companies, as well as representatives of media and civil society are expected to take participation at the presentation.

Presentation will be held on Thursday, 25^th June 2015, in the Assembly Hall of the Assembly of Bosnia-Podrinje Canton Gorazde, starting at 12 o’clock. The agenda is as follows.

Media announcement – 25/06/2015

Presentation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the Fight against Corruption BPC

Open letter to the Council of Ministers of BiH

Press releases ● 15 June 2015

We would like to address you regarding the fact that since November 2013, when the amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest of BiH were adopted, which envisages a new Commission for Determining Conflicts of Interest, this body has not yet been fully formed.

Dear All,

Transparency International of Bosnia and Herzegovina considers it worrying that the BiH Council of Ministers has not yet adopted amendments to the Rulebook on Internal Organization of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption, which are necessary for the transfer of Central Election Commission staff. , to the office of the Agency, ie the Commission for Determining Conflicts of Interest. Therefore, although members of the Commission have been appointed before the BiH Parliamentary Assembly and APIK, since the amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest were adopted, its implementation has been prevented, which has unforeseeable consequences for BiH institutions and the rule of law.

TI BiH appeals to the Council of Ministers to adopt the necessary amendments to the internal acts of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption as soon as possible and resolve the status of staff envisaged for the implementation of the Law. at the state level. This is of particular importance, given not only the importance of this law in ensuring the minimum integrity of elected and appointed officials, but also the fact that after the amendments to the law at the state level there was a stalemate in the application of relevant laws at the Federation and Brcko District. .

TI BiH also requests the Council of Ministers to submit a report to the public, explaining why the acts have not yet been adopted and why the implementation of the Law on Conflict of Interest has not been enabled. It is evident that the amendments to the Law on Conflict of Interest were harmful from the beginning, starting from the politicization of the body responsible for determining conflicts of interest, to the complete delay in the implementation of laws at the level of BiH, FBiH and District. Therefore, TI BiH once again appeals to the Council of Ministers to resolve this issue either by completing the process of establishing a supporting office of the Commission for Determining Conflicts of Interest, or by amending the Law again to eliminate the mentioned shortcomings.

With respect,

Open letter to the Council of Ministers

TI BiH won 14 lawsuits against institutions in 2014 years

Press releases ● 09 June 2015

During 2014, Transparency International BiH filed 32 lawsuits against public institutions for violating the Law on Freedom of Access to Information, which were mainly related to the misapplication of certain articles of the law, failure to conduct a public interest test and silence of the administration. Out of a total of 32 disputes, 14 judgments were rendered in favor of TI BiH, one dispute was lost by TI BiH, and the remaining 17 cases are still pending.

The largest number of lawsuits, 24 of them, were filed by TI BiH against public authorities for failure to submit copies of work contracts concluded during 2012. and 2013, which were required by TI BiH due to the frequent practice of institutions to circumvent employment transparency precisely through the conclusion of employment contracts.

Among the institutions sued by TI BiH for failure to submit work contracts are, among others: SIPA, Indirect Taxation Authority, Central Bank of BiH, Republic Administration for Geodetic and Property Affairs of RS, some entity and cantonal ministries, and local self-government units. It is symptomatic that in all these cases, the institutions concluded without conducting a public interest test that they could not submit copies of the contract because they would violate the Law on Personal Data Protection. Out of 24 administrative disputes, the courts resolved 10 disputes, of which TI BIH won 9 disputes. Only one dispute was lost, but in that case the procedure on the request for extraordinary review of the court decision is in progress. The remaining 14 proceedings are still pending.

One of the most recent disputes won by TI BiH was relations with the City of Banja Luka, which submitted contracts, but refused to submit the names and surnames of persons with whom contracts were concluded, with the explanation that “submission of names and surnames of persons who concluded contracts is violation of the Law on Personal Data Protection and that the submission of names and surnames of persons who concluded these contracts is irrelevant, in relation to the information on how many contracts have been concluded and how much budget funds have been allocated. TI BIH pointed out in the lawsuit that the City has a selective approach in the alleged protection of personal data, because it protects only the data of persons concluding employment contracts with the city, while for example on its official website publishes names of many persons applying for certain permits and they compete in public calls, where sometimes the names of the parents of these people are even published. The lawsuit also points out that the City concludes contracts and spends funds on behalf of citizens, which is why there is a justified public interest in submitting this information. The lawsuit of TI BIH was adopted by the verdict of the District Court in Banja Luka, and the decision of the City was annulled. The court concluded in the verdict that “by submitting the requested data, insight into the transparency of public bodies and in this case the amount of allocated budget funds for the implementation of the contract, and that the name and surname of a person does not represent personal data but social and legal identification of a natural person . ”

On the one hand, the number of lawsuits received by TI BiH against public institutions for violating the Law on Freedom of Access to Information indicates the creation of positive tendencies in court practice, but on the other hand it still shows non-transparency of institutions, their persistent disregard for legal provisions. and negligence towards public funds, because any dispute that an institution loses goes to the taxpayers. TI BiH considers that the recorded positive examples from case law are extremely important because they affirm the right to access information by teaching public authorities about the importance of publicity of their work.

Press rls – 09.06.2015..doc (more…)

The Republic Prosecutor’s Office of the RS forwarded the Bobar Bank case to the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH

Press releases ● 05 June 2015

The Republic Prosecutor’s Office of the Republika Srpska informed Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) that the Chief Republic Prosecutor had delegated the Bobar Bank case to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because as stated in the letter from the Republic Prosecutor’s Office, international crime.

TI BiH previously sent a request to the Republic Prosecutor’s Office of RS to initiate a procedure for resolving conflicts of jurisdiction between the District Prosecutor’s Office in Bijeljina, which was initially charged with missing almost 10 million KM from the Bank’s vault, as well as a large number of disputed loans. which declared itself incompetent, explaining that it was not organized crime.

Given the fact that in the previous period, due to the transfer of this case between the prosecutor’s offices, no one actually dealt with investigations in the Bobar Bank case, TI BiH again sent inquiries to the Republic Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH to determine whether the Republic Prosecutor’s Office conflict of jurisdiction, and whether the media allegations that the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH initiated investigative activities in this case are correct. While the Republic Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that the case had been forwarded to the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH refused to provide information, explaining that it would jeopardize the goals of preventing and detecting crime.

TI BiH notes that it is especially important that one of the competent prosecutor’s offices in BiH finally start acting in this case, informing the public as soon as possible about the details of the indictment, as well as the persons against whom the indictment was filed. As a reminder, even after more than half a year, thanks to the negligence of the investigative bodies, the public does not know who the people involved in the crime in Bobar Bank are and what crimes they are charged with, and the fact that the RS Special Prosecutor’s Office even considered it not organized crime. it best shows the extent of the systemic ignoring of this affair so far.

Answer of the Republic Prosecutor’s Office of RS

Response of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH

Press rls – 04 06 2015 doc

TI BiH and the Coalition of NGOs Supporting Action Planning in BiH

Announcements ● 17 May 2015

In September 24, 2014, Bosnia and Herzegovina officially joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) as its 65^th member, which aim is to encourage countries around the world to enhance transparency and better governance through undertaking concrete steps in legislation and practice. After joining the OGP initiative, Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with civil society is obliged to develop an action plan that identifies priorities and activities in the area of transparent and accountable governance, citizen participation in decision-making processes, and the use of new technologies and innovation to increase the openness of government.

The theme of the conference organized by TI BiH will be processes and principles of the development of the action plan, and it will be presented the experiences from the countries in the region that have already created and started implementation of the Action Plan. Civil society organizations will present the priorities that should be included in the Action Plan of BiH, while the leading institutions within the OGP initiative should present current and planned steps in the drafting and adoption of the Action Plan for the BiH.

The Conference will be held on Monday, 18^th May 2015, at the Hotel Europe in Sarajevo (Atrium Hall), with the beginning at 10.30 a.m. The agenda is attached below. The press conference is planned to be held at 10.00 a.m.

TI BiH and the Coalition of NGOs Supporting Action Planning in BiH

Initiative for constitutional review of FYROM submitted

Press releases ● 14 May 2015

The submitters of the initiative propose to the Constitutional Court of the RS to issue a decision initiating the procedure for assessing the constitutionality of the disputed provisions of Articles 7 and 8. and 22. Law on Public Order and Peace of the Republika Srpska and made a decision that the disputed articles are not in accordance with the Constitution of the Republika Srpska, given that they represent a direct violation of the right to freedom of thought and opinion, belief, public expression and peaceful assembly and association.

The National Assembly of the Republika Srpska is 5. In February 2015, it adopted the Law on Public Order and Peace, despite strong condemnation and opposition from the domestic public, the media and civil society. The largest international organizations, from the OSCE, the European Commission, Human Rights Watch to the embassies of the USA, Great Britain and others, condemned this law, assessing that the concept of public space is too broadly defined and allows its abuse.

The need to submit this initiative is further emphasized by the fact that in a short period of time two more draft legal solutions have been submitted for adoption, which seek to restrict freedom of assembly, expression and association, and which are also in line with constitutionally guaranteed rights. Banja Luka journalists expect that the Constitutional Court, protecting the highest legal act of the RS, will accept the initiative and in the further procedure will declare the Law unconstitutional due to a series of inconsistencies with the RS Constitution.

Initiative for assessing the constitutionality and legality of the RS Law on Public Order and Peace
Press rls – May 14, 2015

A blow to the work of non-governmental organizations

Press releases ● 11 May 2015

Transparency International of Bosnia and Herzegovina strongly condemns the move of the ruling coalition in Republika Srpska to adopt the Draft Law on Publicity of Non-Profit Organizations, which seeks to label and discriminate foreign-funded NGOs, without any announcement or public debate.

Namely, the disputed draft only deals with organizations whose activities and projects are financed by foreign governments and organizations and does not deal at all with organizations financed from local sources and budgets of various levels of government, which do not even have to submit reports and justify funds allocated from the budget. .

The draft law also vaguely defines political activities and political activities, thus leaving a dangerous possibility for the competent institutions to, with a broad and inadequate interpretation of the law, ban the work of organizations whose activities do not help the RS authorities.

TI BiH does not consider the need for transparency of NGO work disputable, but in this case, under the guise of transparency, it actually wants to control and limit the work of only those organizations that are not under the control of the RS authorities.

This law sends a dangerous message to citizens that NGOs are enemies of the state and is just one step in a series of years of attempts by RS authorities to restrict freedom of speech, assembly and association and stifle criticism in all ways, including totalitarian regimes. It is also absurd that the Declaration on the Compliance of this Draft Law with the EU Acquis states that the sources of EU law governing this matter have not been identified, although it is clear that the draft is contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of assembly and assembly. organization, while this draft gives the Ministry of Justice the opportunity to determine which organization can operate freely and which cannot.

TI BiH, in cooperation with other civil society organizations, will use all available mechanisms to prevent the adoption of such a law or at least enable a public debate in order to eliminate its shortcomings.

Press rls – 11 May 2015 doc

Presentation of the initiative for amendments to the Law on Public Procurement

Press releases ● 10 May 2015

Transparency International of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Center for Investigative Reporting are organizing the Conference on Improving the Law on Public Procurement . The aim of the Conference is to present an analysis and initiative to improve the Law on Public Procurement, with a focus on increasing transparency and preventing corruption in this area.

The conference is expected to be attended by representatives of the executive and legislative branches at the state level, institutions supervising the implementation of the Law on Public Procurement – Public Procurement Agency and the Complaints Review Office, civil society organizations active in advocating for improving the legal framework in this area. .

The conference will be held in Tuesday, May 12 2015 at the Hotel Europe in Sarajevo, starting at 11.00. Press statements are scheduled before the start of the Conference at 10.45. The agenda is below.

The conference is part of the BiH Civil Society Sustainability Program (CSSP), which is financially supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the British Embassy in BiH, in which TI BiH and CIN focus on strengthening the legal framework public procurement, conflicts of interest and property records.

You can download the agenda here Agenda 12.05.2015. Hotel Europa, Sarajevo .

TI BiH asked the Chief Republic Prosecutor to order action in the case of Bobar Bank

Press releases ● 21 April 2015

Transparency International BiH sent an open letter to the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic, Mahmut Švraca, urging him to order the RS Special Prosecutor’s Office to act in the Bobar Bank case or for the Republic Prosecutor’s Office to take over the case. The Collegium of the Special Prosecutor’s Office recently concluded that it is not within its competence to act on criminal charges which, among other things, refer to the disappearance of almost ten million marks from the bank’s vault, where public funds were deposited. Before that, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Bijeljina handed over the case to the Special Prosecutor’s Office, believing that it was an organized crime, ie. on a matter that is not within their jurisdiction, which returned the case to the Bijeljina Prosecutor’s Office.

In a letter to the Republic Prosecutor Mahmut Švraci, TI BiH emphasizes that it is necessary to urgently undertake investigative actions, because it is his legal obligation to resolve a possible conflict of jurisdiction between the district prosecutor’s offices and order an investigation. Otherwise, public confidence in the political control of prosecutors will be strengthened, while over time it will become increasingly difficult to investigate the scale of the crime committed. It was especially emphasized that the explanation of the Collegium and the Chief Special Prosecutor about the incompetence of the Special Prosecutor’s Office is unconvincing, and that it is based on worrying arguments that are against the law and according to which prosecution of crimes affecting the economy and financial sector. it is not of special importance for the Republika Srpska. The decision to ignore all the circumstances of the scandal that has been shaking the public for months, explaining that the case is not within their competence, casts doubt on the legal work of this prosecutor’s office, the chief special prosecutor and all acting prosecutors, their competence and independence. TI BiH also pointed out the possibility of violating the Code of Judicial and Prosecutorial Ethics, if the Chief Special Prosecutor subordinated his call to personal interpretations of the competence of the institution he manages from motives that significantly resemble organized crime and avoiding work due to political instructions or other similar reasons.

TI BiH warned the Chief Republic Prosecutor that currently none of the investigative bodies, despite all criminal charges, including reports from the RS Banking Agency, is investigating the crime that led to the closure of Bobar Bank, causing incalculable damage to public funds, but also economic entities and numerous citizens.

Considering that in democratic societies the public has the right to inspect the work of prosecutor’s offices, especially the disputed decisions on which the initiation of investigations depends, TI BiH demands from the Chief Republic Prosecutor, who has significant and broad powers under the law, to resolve the issue of investigating the Bobar Bank case. by handing it over to the Republican prosecutors, or by ordering the special prosecutors to finally conduct an investigation.

Press rls – April 21, 2015

Open letter from TI BiH to the Chief Republic Prosecutor

The RS Special Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that an expert examination of the video on the alleged purchase of MPs was not done

Press releases ● 16 April 2015

Banja Luka, April 16, 2015 – The RS Special Prosecutor’s Office informed Transparency International BiH that they did not conduct an expert examination of a recording of a conversation in which the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska allegedly buys MPs in order to form a ruling majority. At the same time, an argument was given according to which the expertise cannot be determined because the original recording was returned to the Klix.ba portal by the decision of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo. As a reminder, the RS Ministry of Interior in a press release 18. In November, a number of electronic media published a edited, compromising recording of a private conversation between the Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska, recorded with special technical, sophisticated means for audio and video recording, in which individual statements of the Prime Minister were taken out of context. and in that way a derived, seemingly real conversation was created between the Prime Minister and an unidentified person – the interlocutor. ”

TI BiH raises the question of how the RS Ministry of the Interior could have qualified the disputed recording as edited in November last year if the RS Special Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that the expertise of the recording was not done at all. Since the affair about the alleged purchase of deputies was opened, the investigative bodies not only did not determine the authenticity of the recording, but according to the information sent to TI BiH, they did not undertake other investigative actions that could clarify the disputed situation. Thus, the response of the Banja Luka District Prosecutor’s Office states that the same case was only forwarded to the RS Special Prosecutor’s Office upon Dragan Cavic’s report, which again explains in its response that the investigation was reduced to establishing the authenticity of the recording.

TI BiH believes that the Special Prosecutor’s Office cannot stop the investigation on the grounds of not having the original recording, indirectly accusing journalists who defended media freedom and the right to secrecy of sources, and that it is necessary to conduct other investigative actions to finally determine whether a crime was committed. deed and who are all responsible persons. It is important to note that this is an affair on which the legitimacy of the current government in Republika Srpska directly depends, because the cabinet of Prime Minister Cvijanović is facing extremely serious accusations that the current government was formed by giving bribes. It is in the interest of the public of Republika Srpska, but also of all its institutions, to continue the investigation of the Special Prosecutor’s Office in full, as well as to make all findings of the investigation accessible and public because it is a sensitive case that attracts special attention. assessment of the legitimate establishment of a ruling majority.

Press rls 16.04.2015.
Answer Banja Luka District Prosecutor’s Office
Answer RS Special Prosecutor’s Office

The ruling majority in RS is covering up the Bobar Bank affair

Press releases ● 15 April 2015

Dobrila Drinić, Radmila Stojnić, Srđan Amidžić and Željka Stojičić, members of the Finance and Budget Committee of the RS National Assembly, voted yesterday against the proposal of Transparency International BiH that Slavica Injac, director of the RS Banking Agency, be invited to a public hearing before the parliamentary committee on the affair Beaver bank. The proposal was rejected with four votes against, five votes in favor, but two members of the Committee did not attend the session, so the required majority of six members was not reached.

At the same time, the Special Prosecutor’s Office of RS informed TI BiH that there are no grounds for suspicion that there is organized crime in the case of Bobar Bank, as well as that criminal acts that were possibly committed by unknown persons misappropriated 9,968,349.90 KM from the bank’s vault. committed a number of other criminal offenses, do not fall under their jurisdiction because “it could not be classified as the most serious forms of criminal offenses against the economy and payments and against official duty, where prosecution is of special importance for the Republika Srpska.” In this way, the Chief Special Prosecutor Miodrag Bajić demonstrated the worrying avoidance of responsibility, making meaningless the very purpose of the existence of the institution he heads.

With the inaction of the RS Special Prosecutor’s Office and the refusal of the ruling coalition MPs to investigate the work of Slavica Injac and the RS Banking Agency, the Republika Srpska institutions put an end to the Bobar Bank affair. The refusal of the appointed members of the RS Finance and Budget Committee to question Slavica Injac found that there was no political will of the current ruling majority in Republika Srpska to deal with organized crime, while the RS Special Prosecutor’s Office responded that the lack of political will was felt institution. In this way, despite the criminal reports of the Banking Agency on the disappearance of money from the bank’s vault, as well as numerous criminal reports of Bobar Bank employees and other citizens, none of the institutions is currently dealing with this case, which confirms suspicions that it is systemic and institutional. covering up organized crime.

TI BiH calls on the Finance and Budget Committee to reconsider, in its full composition, the initiative for a public hearing of the Director of the RS Banking Agency and to enable, at least in this way, through the control role of the legislature, to determine responsibility for bank failures and abuses. caused great losses for public institutions whose funds were entrusted to Bobar Bank.

Press rls – 15 4 2015 doc