COLLAPSED JUDICIARY DEALS ONLY WITH ITSELF INSTEAD OF CASES

SARAJEVO, DECEMBER 7 /SRNA/ – The BiH Deputy Chief Prosecutor Džermin Pašić case, against whom a criminal investigation was initiated, is only one of the signs that the BiH judiciary is rotten, proving that urgently abolishing the Prosecutor’s Office and the Court would be best as they serve no purpose other than wasting taxpayers’ money, Branimir Kojić, the head of the Srebrenica Organisation of Families of Captured, Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians, said in a SRNA statement.

Kojić says the absurdity of the Pašić case is even greater given that he heads the Organised Crime and Corruption Section, and stressed that the fact that the suspended President of the Court of BiH, Ranko Debevec, still receives a salary shows the full extent of the pathology within the judicial system of BiH. He stated that such a judiciary is the main obstacle and helper to all those who do not want the truth to come to light. Kojić publicly asked those responsible in the judiciary when the Serb families he represents, as well as those throughout Republika Srpska and the world, will finally see justice. PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE COLLAPSED FROM WITHIN Commenting on the scandals shaking the BiH judiciary, former president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council /HJPC/ Branko Perić told SRNA that “the Prosecutor’s Office has been destroyed from within by various political influences.” “Prosecutor Pašić is linked in the media to ruling political structures. The Chief Prosecutor clearly failed to oversee Pašić’s work, which is why Pašić took the initiative to shift attention onto /Chief Prosecutor Milanko/ Kajganić. I do not rule out the possibility that Kajganić will end up like his predecessors,” said Perić, who is also a former judge of the Court of BiH. A criminal case has been opened against Pašić, the head of the Section for Organised Crime and Corruption. When asked why, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH confirmed to SRNA that a case was opened but declined to provide further information because the matter is “in the preliminary investigation phase.” However, according to federal media reports, the reason is that Pašić “hid notes indicating that he accepted bribes.” The Prosecutor’s Office also told SRNA that it submitted to the HJPC’s Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor a complaint against Pašić, which has been received, but the HJPC refuses to reveal its contents. Media outlets have reported that the complaint includes details of Pašić’s questionable conduct in the Start case, which was supposed to target the leader of the Škaljari clan, Sani el Murde. According to these reports, the alleged bribe amounted to one million BAM, along with links to drug trafficking and other illicit activities that Pašić and the department he heads should have been prosecuting. BiH JUDICIAL REGIME – I GET PAID WHILE I DO NOTHING The absurdity of the BiH judiciary is further illustrated by the fact that the country effectively has two presidents of the Court of BiH - Ranko Debevec and Minka Kreho. “BiH is the only country that has two presidents of its state court. True, one is suspended, but the essence is that he continues to receive a full presidential salary. This is Ranko Debevec, who was suspended back in December 2023,” media outlets warn, while those responsible remain silent and do nothing. Although Debevec was suspended, the HJPC has never initiated disciplinary proceedings against him to remove him from office, and in the two years since his suspension he has not been convicted. He may continue receiving his presidential salary reduced only by the meal allowance until the criminal proceedings end. And those proceedings can last five years or more. Meanwhile, the HJPC appointed Judge Kreho as acting president of the Court of BiH in December 2023. While Kreho works, Debevec waits for his trial, and public money flows into the pockets of both Debevec and Kreho. In total, this costs taxpayers more than BAM 10,000. The salary of the Court President exceeds BAM 5,500.