16 "Blues" - Letter from police officers from the "Dar1" operation: It's time for the truth!

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - A group of 16 police officers, who were arrested in the "Dar1" operation and subsequently spent six months in custody, have decided to jointly publish a letter to the public and explain some things.

We are publishing the letter in its entirety:

“The 16 of us, the Blues

Dear Sir/Madam,

Regarding the recent events and biased reporting concerning the "Dar 1" operation, as direct participants, we have not only a legal obligation but also a moral duty and satisfaction to present the accurate and truthful facts to the public, refuting various spins and falsehoods related to this specific event. In this way, we aim to protect ourselves and our families from undeserved public lynching and condemnation, despite the fact that we have been convicted before any proceedings.

The multi-month media hunt and spins, well-planned and disseminated by the police chief and a small number of his close associates within the Sarajevo Canton MUP Police Directorate, were initiated against the first 17, plus 1, then plus 4, and ultimately us, 22 police officers, under the code name "Dar" (Gift).

Dozens of falsehoods and spins were strategically released through media articles to divert attention from the real and truthful reasons, to create a media frenzy, and to gain public support. Due to the participation of only one side, a false picture and perception were created for the public, without our voice, without our statements, and without the truth. We were unnecessarily subjected to public lynching. 

Now the time has come, the time for every side not only to speak but also to prove and present facts and evidence that will certainly refute all the claims that have so poorly misinformed the public, discrediting both us and our families. As they say in the folk saying: "Every medal has two sides," so you have heard one side. You wrote, you condemned, but now, for the sake of truth, for your sake and ours, you have the obligation to tell our story in the same way. The story of truth, not spins and lies. 

As was claimed, stated, spun, insinuated, and publicly lied about large sums of money, serious crime, bribery, corruption, trucks, luxurious lifestyles, radars, offenses worth hundreds of thousands of marks, luxurious properties, etc., we must disappoint all those involved in such heinous and untrue statements.

For six months, our right to freedom was denied, one of the fundamental basic human rights. For six months, we were forbidden to speak, and we did not. But these six months have passed, and the time has come for the story, but the true and accurate story, not spins and lies. 

An indictment was filed for offenses where the total individual value was 95 KM, 150 KM, 350 KM, and so on. Bank accounts are in credit debt, no radars, luxurious properties, trucks, or any other lies were found. 

We served our investigations for six months, 17 honest individuals, not even an organized group, but we served time as a group, allegedly for 95 KM, 150 KM, 350 KM. These suspicions are unproven and will ultimately be refuted.    
Now we ask all those who spun, fabricated, lied, and misinformed the public: where are those trucks, luxurious lifestyles, radars, enormous assets, properties, bank accounts…. 

If these spins were true, then the indictment should contain all these facts, but the truth is that it does not.

This automatically raises the question: are we collateral damage, through which dozens or possibly hundreds of criminal offenses were concealed by precisely those who are the main actors and perpetrators of these dishonorable actions and deeds? 

Is it naturally possible or feasible for you that if such serious facts were presented against us and attributed to us, they could have been committed by police officers alone without certain managers, and they are absent. Why? 

Haven't you wondered? From many articles, it was said that this has been going on for years, months. So, shouldn't it have been stopped long ago if it even existed? It didn't. Now it's our turn, we are speaking.

The same initiators of such dishonorable actions are daily subjects of media headlines and articles. The security situation is catastrophic, getting worse every day. Fortunately, we are suspended, otherwise, we would also be held responsible for this situation.

Dozens of criminal proceedings, administrative lawsuits, and disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against the same actors who planned, organized, and executed the actions against 22 police officers. 

Dear Sir/Madam, they deceived you, misinformed you, lied to you. We did not do that even in those dark walls where we re-examined every day of our lives since birth. We endured various pressures, false settlements, blackmail, but we endured.

We endured not because we are brave, but because we endured with the truth. 

From one to 30 years of our working lives, we put our lives on the line to protect yours, to protect your property, and then we experienced a grave injustice. 

Dear Sir/Madam, they lied to you, the citizens; they lied to the media; they lied to the Prosecutor's Office and the court. They faked the possible and the impossible, invented witnesses, threatened and coerced people to join their lies and spins, hid and concealed evidence. They lied to all of you. 

Is it natural that among us are suspects who have arrested and reported people for giving bribes? They were convicted of that offense, so is it possible that such individuals are responsible for receiving bribes? 

Pure, blatant falsehood - a lie. 

It is unprecedented for the police chief, the police directorate spokesperson, and a small number of union leadership to boast that they have done an honorable deed. That is a pure, blatant lie. 

With this action, they have not only wronged us 22 police officers; they have humiliated all police officers in Sarajevo Canton.

With this manner of prosecution, false accusations and spins, fabricated evidence, faking and presenting falsehoods, and public media lynching, they have jeopardized the fundamental principles of the modern human rights system, whose key role is to ensure the rights of persons in criminal proceedings, neglecting the presumption of innocence. 

If they have any honor at all, at least for collegial reasons, they should have entrusted their suspicions to another police agency, such as FUP or SIPA, and been consistent with their claims. 

You didn't wonder why they personally did this within their own organization and against those at the lowest level, those who risk their lives, earn their salaries, and are battered by unfair management, time, rain, snow, sun, and all adversities, instead of entrusting it to another agency? Because the truth would have been against them, and in our favor.

Dozens of criminal activities would have been revealed, such as tenders, faked traffic accidents, omissions in processing misdemeanor reports, protection of certain family-friend tycoons, and much more. 

The truth is that individuals possess enormous wealth, luxury cars, villas with swimming pools, several apartments and family houses, trucks, excavators, restaurants, and so on…

The truth is that police officers possess these things, but not these 22 who have been falsely accused. Those who possess all this property are direct participants and organizers of our proceedings, in collusion with the top management of the Police Directorate, led by the police chief, or are close relatives, business partners in various businesses. 

It is high time that their enormous wealth and assets are also thoroughly investigated, that their legality in work is checked, and therefore we believe that honest agencies like FUP, SIPA, the BiH State Prosecutor's Office, and even parts of the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office will do so, if you want a legal state and the rule of law. 

If they were prepared to do this to 22 of their own police officers, then dear journalists, citizens, what else are they prepared to do to you? 

And you, dear journalists, esteemed media, have an obligation because you were partly accomplices, you published their lies. Now you have the obligation to publish the truth and remove any doubt that you are impartial and that you are accomplices with the aforementioned. 

Sincerely, 

The 16 of us, the Blues!!!

Our word is a pledge of our honor!"