Begić: Schmidt is obliged to correct discrimination, if he doesn't, he loses all credibility

(Patria) - State delegate Zlatan Begić, whose two applications were accepted by the European Court of Human Rights, stated that the court found discrimination.

He emphasized that High Representative Christian Schmidt did not take into account the earlier ruling of the Constitutional Court of BiH.

"I expected the High Representative to eliminate discrimination regarding these positions. We were shocked when we saw that not only did he not respect the ruling, but he further deepened, strengthened, and cemented the state of discrimination, leaving it in force with the clear intention of favoring one political entity as an undisputed participant in power. We were forced to turn to the Court in Strasbourg, which accepted both the factual circumstances and the legal situation. Since the High Representative introduced such rules on election night upon which discrimination is based, I, as the applicant, call on him to issue a new decision to correct what he did on election night and to align that part of the electoral system for the election of the President and two Vice-Presidents of FBiH with Protocol 12, or rather with the ECHR ruling. If he does not do so, then he has no credibility to lecture anyone in this country about not respecting the rulings of the Constitutional Court and the ECHR, because he himself is the one who neglected and violated the ruling. He imposed new rules for the election of the President and two Vice-Presidents, disregarding the practice of the European Court. A man from Europe has introduced new forms of discrimination," said Begić.

Speaking about the second ruling, which found discrimination regarding the election of the Speaker and two Deputy Speakers of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, Begić stated that these functions are very significant. Begić was prevented from running for these positions.

“In our country, the Speaker and two Deputies, at one stage, take over the legislative process into their own hands and decide on laws. Now we have established discrimination, and we will strongly pursue demands for these rulings to be implemented. The non-implementation of ECHR rulings is a criminal offense," said Begić.

Begić stated that it was important for some political parties to enter power, and they agreed to discriminatory solutions.

“For the political options that hold power today, positions were more important at that moment, and they agreed to such solutions. This is a violation of the rule of law, of human rights. In BiH, there are 400,000 people who suffer various forms of discrimination, and there is no European path for them," said Begić.

DF Presidency member Miro Lazović stated that this is not just a victory for Zlatan Begić, but for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The path has been opened for building BiH as a state of citizens with all their rights and freedoms. This appeal and Slaven Kovačević's candidacy are a roadmap for how we should build relations in BiH. In a country where we are pushed into ethnic cages, rights are endangered. At a time when both Dodik and Čović are gloating over Bosnia and Herzegovina in a way that it cannot survive as a civic state, I will say that this is the only way to guarantee all rights and freedoms to citizens,” said Lazović, adding that the European Charter of Human Rights is above the Constitution of BiH.

Candidate for the Presidency of BiH Slaven Kovačević stated that the High Representative, with a mathematical formula, made citizens of BiH unequal.

“I am interested in what the authorities, primarily the 'trojka', will do. Will they allow people with questionable legal legitimacy to appeal this decision as well, and will they allow this case to be heard by the Grand Chamber? There are some people who say that HDZ is a fixed point. Probably because of these election rules. In this country, there is only one fixed point, and that is the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Kovačević.

Begić once again emphasized that the European Court of Human Rights found that he was discriminated against.

“There is a solution. Let the High Representative fix every solution,” said Begić.