American University in BiH loses accreditation and website, students accuse Prcić of extortion

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Council for Accreditation of Independent Educational Institutions in the USA (ACICS) revoked the accreditation of the American University in BiH, based in Tuzla, on October 30, as announced on their official website. ACICS had received several complaints from AU in BiH students in the past, warning of irregularities, and although the accreditation was valid until the end of this year, ACICS withdrew it. 

Notice on the ACICS website

The American University in BiH, headed by Denis Prcić, has been removed from the ACICS database. The official website of AU in BiH (aubih.edu) was also not functional today, as its accreditation was revoked, preventing it from using the "edu" domain. During the day, only the English version of the website was accessible, but not the Bosnian or Turkish versions.

The American University in BiH came into the spotlight when the Director of the Intelligence Security Agency of BiH, Osman Mehmedagić, after his diploma from the Faculty of Business Studies in Banja Luka was annulled, submitted a diploma from the American University in BiH, which he allegedly obtained in 2013. When applying for the position of OSA Director, Mehmedagić submitted the annulled diploma, and the diploma he submitted a few months ago to the Joint Commission for Oversight of the Work of OSA from AU in BiH he declared a "secret document". The Prosecutor's Office of BiH is investigating this diploma, and one indictment for abuse of office has already been confirmed against Mehmedagić. 

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH has interviewed several individuals as part of the diploma investigation, including Denis Prcić. The Minister of Security of BiH, Selmo Cikotić, who was a professor at AU in BiH, was also interviewed. Other employees of the same ministry, as well as the Ministry of Defense, also appear as lecturers. Due to reporting on AU in BiH and all the irregularities that have been associated with this university for years, Patria has received several lawsuits from AU in BiH. In just one month, we received three lawsuits. Other media outlets that reported on this case were not sued.

Students' complaint to ACICS

For the past few months, students of the American University in BiH have been held hostage by Denis Prcić, as he demanded they pay 1,500 KM each for the reaccreditation of AU in BiH, for which 450,000 KM was supposed to be paid. The students largely protested because this obligation was not specified in their study contracts. After the students who refused to pay 1,500 KM realized they would not receive their diplomas, and these were final year students, they filed a complaint with ACICS, the US Ambassador to BiH Eric Nelson, who forwarded the letter to the FBI office of the US Embassy, and the Prosecutor's Office of BiH was also informed. 

Meanwhile, in one of his latest emails, Prcić stated that he would expel students from AU in BiH for alleged "misuse of the learning platform." At the beginning of this month, the students addressed a letter to the Office for Combating Corruption and Quality Management of Sarajevo Canton, in which they outlined the entire chronology of events. 

They also filed a complaint with the Cantonal Administration for Inspection Affairs of Tuzla Canton, Transparency International, the Institution of the Ombudsman for Human Rights, and are trying to obtain more information from the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton. 

The response they received from Transparency International confirmed their suspicions that the requested money could not be paid because it was requested "outside the contract and with an ultimatum." 

In its inspection, the Tuzla Canton Inspectorate determined that AU in BiH occupies a smaller space than when it received its operating permit, and that it has five employees, of whom four are professors and deans. Although AU in BiH has a rector, Mirsad Đonlagić, Denis Prcić is authorized for all actions and processes at AU in BiH.  

Students state that they have proceeded with the preparation of their final theses, and the problem arose when Prcić demanded the payment of 1,500 KM for reaccreditation, which some of them refused to pay. 

"Before the mentioned institutions were informed about everything, the problems did not stop. Denis Prcić, as the owner of the entire institution and the electronic platform containing our courses, projects, grades, through which we as students communicate with the student services, receive notifications, decided to lock out students from the platform, i.e., block access to students who did not pay 1,500 KM. We, as students, did not want to participate in his violent extortion of this money. We tried to get any information, we went personally several times to the accommodation units in Sarajevo (Zmaja od Bosne 8 in the Secondary Mechanical School) where all the posters and indications that the faculty even existed there anymore were removed," the students stated in the letter. 

In this way, students are prevented from retrieving their high school diplomas, which they submitted upon enrollment. They also cannot get student IDs, which would identify them as students of that university. They state that they tried to contact Prcić, who told them that the faculty was closed until further notice, and then blocked their numbers, and they could no longer reach him. 

"Those who paid 1,500 KM started receiving diplomas secretly and by mail to the home addresses of the beneficiaries of this blackmail," the letter states. 

AU in BiH does not have a permit to operate in Sarajevo

For years, Patria has been reporting that AU in BiH does not have a permit to operate in Sarajevo Canton, and that under the guise of the American School of Economics Higher Education Institution, which it registered, it enrolls students in AU in BiH. This is confirmed by the students in their letter, as the Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Sifet Kukuruz, has now told them that they do not have student status and that their faculty never existed in Sarajevo Canton. 

"Many questions arise, including the issue of health insurance, for which we are told to contact the Ministry of Education of Tuzla Canton and seek treatment in Tuzla, because the faculty only has its headquarters and operating permit in Tuzla. It is simply shocking to tell someone who has used all the certificates of this institution for health and other rights for the past three or four years that they are illegitimate and that the students are no longer students, many of whom were born in Sarajevo and live and are treated here, and now must seek their rights and treatment in another canton," they state in the letter. 

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH may soon provide the only answer to this entire case.