Former President of the Court of BiH calls on Inzko to dismiss Tegeltija

(Patria) - Former President of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina Meddžida Kreso called on the High Representative of the international community in BiH Valentin Inzko to use his Bonn powers and dismiss the President of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH (HJPC) Milan Tegeltija, if he does not resign himself.

"Problems in the HJPC arose when Tegeltija came to its head," Kreso told N1 television on Monday, Patria reports.

She emphasized that things in the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be improved without the influence of the international community.

A scandal involving the President of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milan Tegeltija, in a corruption affair, in which he was supposed to influence the then Chief Prosecutor of Sarajevo Canton, Dalida Burzić, to speed up a criminal case, previously surfaced in the media. Marko Pandža, an inspector of the Agency for Investigations and Protection of BiH (SIPA), took 2,000 KM from a businessman from Velika Kladuša for this service from Tegeltija, noting that he would "shoe" Tegeltija with that money.

Tegeltija denies involvement in the affair, although the magazine Žurnal also published a recording of the conversation between businessman Nermin Alešević, Tegeltija, and Pandža. 

"At the very least, there is disciplinary responsibility due to Tegeltija's inappropriate contact with parties," Kreso said, noting that former state prosecutor Barašin was dismissed for similar inappropriate contact with parties, and that no exception should be made in Tegeltija's case either. 

The former president of the Court of BiH warns that the influence of politics on the judiciary in BiH is enormous. She pointed out that there are numerous examples of politically suitable, rather than capable, staff being employed in the Court of BiH, including people in judicial positions who previously had no experience in the judiciary.

The HJPC is the umbrella judicial institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina that controls the work of courts and prosecutor's offices in the country.