Hadžibajrić's hearing approaches, prosecutors need material for detention: Irfan Čengić made false claims about illegal weapons

By Amra Vrabac

For more than five months, the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office has been conducting an investigation into the former mayor of the Old Town Municipality, Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, and the municipal secretary, Alma Destanović, since their arrest on May 9th. Hadžibajrić is in detention, while Destanović was released to house arrest with certain restrictive measures imposed at the beginning of September. At that time, Ibrahim Hadžibajrić's son, Seid Hadžibajrić, and several other individuals were also arrested, but that case is being handled by the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. More on that later.

The premises of the Old Town Municipality have been searched several times, with the last search conducted on Friday, October 13th, in the afternoon.

The order stated that the search was to be conducted in a room owned by the Old Town Municipality, used by the Association Club for Practical Shooting and Tactical Training POINT, which had rented the space as a warehouse.

The description of the order stated that the search was being conducted to find perpetrators, accomplices, traces of criminal offenses, and items important for criminal proceedings, and to temporarily seize them, stemming from organized crime in conjunction with abuse of position and authority, and money laundering. The items to be found were: rifles and other types of firearms, and other items and documentation that could be linked to criminal offenses.

Although someone intended to create a scandal just before the new hearing for the extension of detention, which the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office will certainly seek for Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, and his detention expires on November 4th, the rifles found were acquired legally, with permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, and the published half-truths have damaged the Point Club.

Given that the search was conducted on a Friday afternoon, only a few hours later, Irfan Čengić, a candidate for the mayor of the Old Town Municipality, was a guest on Face TV. In that show, he made claims that could be subject to a lawsuit.

Čengić said he knows what is happening in the Old Town Municipality.

"What I learned earlier, and what has been confirmed by the FUP operation and we are already seeing some media headlines, I think the former mayor bought and stored sports weapons in the Old Town Municipality in a very unwise way," said Čengić, adding that the Old Town Municipality Budget was being spent that way.

He provided information that these weapons "were supposed to be distributed to sports associations," and that dozens of rifles were found.

"No more than a hundred," Čengić said.

And 24 rifles, in words and numbers, were found in the search.

Čengić's claims have been denied by both the Old Town Municipality and the Point Club in their statements.

The Municipality announced on Wednesday that the search was carried out in the premises that the Old Town Municipality Sarajevo had leased to the Association "Club for Practical Shooting and Tactical Training Point".

"The Old Town Municipality Sarajevo did not have access to these premises, just as it does not have access to other business premises leased out. The entrance to the premises, as well as the seizure of confiscated items and documentation, was enabled by the users of the space to the police officers of the Federal Police Administration, not by the Old Town Municipality Sarajevo. The mutual rights and obligations of the Old Town Municipality Sarajevo with the user of the space - the Association "Club for Practical Shooting and Tactical Training Point" are regulated by a lease agreement based on direct allocation, concluded in 2022.

Unfortunately, by spreading disinformation and misinterpretations about the procurement of weapons and alleged arming of the Municipality, panic is unnecessarily spread and unrest is caused, which is not in the interest of the citizens and further contributes to the already damaged reputation of this administrative body," the Municipality stated.

The Point Club emphasized that the procurement and payment of weapons were carried out by the Club with its own funds, in accordance with the procurement decision issued by the competent authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, Centar Sarajevo Police Department, through non-cash payment from the Club's transaction account to the supplier's transaction account in accordance with the issued invoice/supplier's bill.

Furthermore, the supervision carried out by the Commission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton on June 24th of this year clearly established that the weapons were kept and stored entirely in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Procurement, Possession, and Carrying of Weapons and Ammunition. At that time, the storage space used by the Club in the Old Town Municipality building was also inspected.

"By confiscating the subject weapons, even if it is a temporary confiscation of the subject sports weapons, the Club and its members are prevented from carrying out their regular activities, both in conducting training and in participating in domestic and international practical shooting competitions, for which purpose the subject sports weapons were acquired," the Point Club statement reads.

The police operation, whose details were speculated about by the media, and the FUP only issued a brief statement on Saturday, and the malicious interpretation by "experts on processes in the Old Town Municipality," have caused damage to both the Municipality and the Point Club.

The funds from the Budget allocated to the Point Club were allocated by a decision of the Old Town Municipal Council. A portion of the funds from the current reserve was allocated by Mayor Hadžibajrić in June 2022. However, Čengić also problematized this, even though he has not been a councilor in the Old Town Municipal Council for a long time, but he claims that "councilors pointed out the budget spending to him." Although he made inaccurate claims on Face TV, and the Old Town Municipality and the Point Club made statements, Čengić has not apologized to the public for the false claims, even though he has damaged the reputation of the Old Town Municipality, which he intends to lead in the coming period. Given that he claims to be a lawyer and knowledgeable about procedures, he should at least have publicly retracted the claims he made. Or, if he has other incriminating information about the former mayor, he should report it to the prosecutors working on the Hadžibajrić case.

When Hadžibajrić and others were arrested, the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office announced that they were charged with organized crime, abuse of position or authority, money laundering, and receiving and giving bribes.

"They are suspected of having organized and led a criminal group from 2019 to May 2023, which included Ibrahim Hadžibajrić and Elmedin Karišik as leaders, and Alma Destanović, Seid Hadžibajrić, and others as members. Some members of the group communicated with each other via the installed Sky application to conceal traces and ultimately agree on the commission of criminal offenses. They are accused of illegally leasing parking spaces in the Old Town Municipality for at least three companies they controlled and illegally earning several hundred thousand marks," the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office announced.

However, this case has been literally separated and is being handled by two prosecutor's offices, the Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton and the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton is dealing with the elder Hadžibajrić and Destanović, while the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina is dealing with the other arrested individuals. Ultimately, neither prosecutor's office has filed an indictment yet, and it is unknown when that might happen. It is also unclear what the Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton will charge Hadžibajrić and Destanović with, and whether the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina will include Ibrahim Hadžibajrić in a potential indictment. If it is about organized crime and money laundering, and the group was led by the elder Hadžibajrić and Elmedin Karišik, then how are the suspects separated into two prosecutor's offices?