US Embassy on the Sabljo Case: Police agencies must clean their ranks of corrupt individuals

By: A. Vrabac 

The verdict against Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina officer Ivica Sabljo in a high-level corruption case related to rigging the recruitment competition for 150 cadets in the Border Police of BiH has raised the question of whether he can remain employed by the Border Police of BiH after the verdict. 

The Border Police of BiH confirmed that Sabljo, who was a member of the Commission for the admission of cadets, has been suspended since October 3, 2022, but Patria has not yet received an answer to the additional question of what Director Zoran Galić will do following the final verdict handed down by the Court of BiH to Sabljo after a plea agreement. 

Sabljo received a suspended sentence of one year in prison with a probation period of two years and a fine of 6,000 BAM. His colleagues covered by the indictment, Rejhan Raković and Ensar Salčinović, have already been dismissed from this police agency. They are charged with multiple criminal offenses, including accepting bribes. 

We also asked the US Embassy in Sarajevo, one of the largest donors to the Border Police of BiH, for comment on whether they expect the Border Police of BiH to terminate the employment of police officer Sabljo after the verdict.

“We believe that all officials convicted of corruption should be removed from their positions. We call on the Border Police of BiH, in accordance with the Law on Police Officials, to take administrative actions against all officers who, through their illegal actions, damage the reputation of the Border Police. The United States has been very clear before that BiH law enforcement institutions, as well as judicial institutions, must clean their ranks of corrupt individuals,” states the response from the Public Affairs Office of the US Embassy.

According to the indictment published by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, Ivica Sabljo was charged with abuse of office or authority under Article 220 of the Criminal Code of BiH.

As stated in the indictment filed by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and confirmed by the Court of BiH, Sabljo illegally helped one of the registered candidates achieve a sufficient number of points to be nominated for admission in the competition for the position of 'police officer,' as he previously did not have enough points. Sabljo, through persons known to him, provided the candidate with a blank form “General Knowledge Test – Essay for candidates who applied for the rank of police officer,” telling him to “improve the essay a bit,” and arranged for him to bring that essay on the day of the oral part of the exam on September 13, 2021, even though he had not previously passed the written part.

Sabljo called police officer Ensar Salčinović (already dismissed from the Border Police of BiH) and gave him instructions for that candidate to meet him and take an envelope with the essay. Salčinović handed the envelope to Sabljo in the official premises of the Border Police of BiH, who, as a member of the Commission, scored the essay with 5 points and replaced the earlier essay with the new one in the candidate's file, thereby enabling him to proceed with the procedure.

Related article: Galić on the move: Ivica Sabljo conditionally sentenced to one year in prison, dismissal from the Border Police of BiH follows!