Could Zoran Galić's escape have been prevented: BiH Prosecutor's Office changed strategy from 'gentleman's agreement' to arrest

By Amra Vrabac

Chief Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office Milanko Kajganić sent a public statement to the media on July 9, stating that the suspect, SIPA Deputy Director Zoran Galić, illegally left BiH on July 8 and fled to Croatia. In the same statement, Kajganić pointed out that there are grounds for suspicion that an unknown person from the institutions involved in the investigation provided the suspect Galić with information about the planned operation, and that the BiH Prosecutor's Office, together with domestic institutions and international partners, will conduct an investigation to identify and prosecute the said person in accordance with the law.

From then until today, Kajganić has not made any further statements, and the BiH Prosecutor's Office, in response to media inquiries about the Zoran Galić case and further actions by the BiH Prosecutor's Office, has only given a terse answer that procedural activities are underway without further clarification.

However, let's go back to the activities undertaken before the operation on July 9.

According to Patria's information, the acting prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, Bojana Jolović, initially planned to offer Galić a "gentleman's agreement" to come to the BiH Prosecutor's Office himself and be questioned about the offenses and circumstances he is accused of. The Director of SIPA, Darko Ćulum, was also informed of this.

However, a few days later, Jolović changed her plan and informed Ćulum that Zoran Galić would be arrested after all. A meeting was held at SIPA premises where it was agreed that SIPA would form a team that would launch the operation on July 9.

The team that was formed was only informed where they were going and what they would be doing just before leaving for Posušje. Therefore, no one from the team of investigators could have informed Galić that he was the target of the arrest.

It is interesting that Kajganić stated in the same statement that the BiH Prosecutor's Office is conducting this investigation together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, which raises the question of which agency or institution leaked information about the arrest operation of Zoran Galić.

In his first statement to the media on July 9, SIPA Director Darko Ćulum said that he had seen Galić the previous week and that Galić had informed his secretary that he was going for treatment. However, there is no official confirmation of this information, as Galić's team only submitted medical documentation this week based on which they requested that their client be granted sick leave.

However, this did not happen, so the legal team, in agreement with Galić, devised a new plan. He requested early termination of his duties as Deputy Director of SIPA from the Council of Ministers of BiH due to retirement. Thus, while on the run from the BiH judiciary, Galić is using legal mechanisms to exercise certain rights and avoid dismissal, which was supposed to be initiated by the Independent Board. If the Council of Ministers of BiH acts on this request and dismisses Galić, he will also be entitled to severance pay, and a larger sum of money will be paid from the BiH budget to the fugitive from justice.

The Croatian authorities have not commented on this case, and it is known that Galić was one of the cadres close to HDZ BiH and regularly participated in meetings of the two HDZ parties led by Dragan Čović and Andrej Plenković.

In this investigation, Galić is suspected of committing the criminal offenses of receiving gifts and other forms of benefits and abuse of position or authority, during his tenure as Director of the BiH Border Police.

In the same operation, three other persons were arrested, one of whom is an employee of the BiH Border Police, and they were ordered into custody.

The question arises whether the BiH Prosecutor's Office could have prevented Zoran Galić's escape if it had not been hesitant about his arrest.

There are six open cases against Galić in the BiH Prosecutor's Office, all related to the period when he was the director of the BiH Border Police for two terms. Only after EUROPOL got involved did the BiH Prosecutor's Office have no choice but to prosecute Galić.

In the Konak case, which has already been concluded before the BiH Court with plea agreements for rigging the competition for the admission of cadets to the BiH Border Police in 2020, Galić avoided any responsibility, and even testified in favor of Rejhan Raković, whom he had appointed as chairman of the Cadet Admission Commission. In the operation carried out in September 2021, a list with the names of cadets and around 100,000 KM, originating from bribery of candidates, was found with Raković. The communications published by Istraga, which were found by decrypting Sky, also mention this competition.

The acting prosecutor in that case was also Bojana Jolović. At that time, she did not consider Galić to be the key person for rigging the competition or that he had tacitly approved such actions by placing his trusted man at the head of the Commission.

After all the peripeteia and problems with the withdrawal of some candidates who, due to the time elapsed, exceeded the age limit, or due to leaving BiH, the admitted cadets went for training in October 2023, and started working a few months ago.

It is known that the BiH Border Police is facing a personnel deficit, and although a new competition has been announced, the procedure itself is taking too long, while numerous police officers meet the conditions for retirement. This vicious circle could be broken by amending the law to extend the working age of police officers, provided they meet special conditions such as physical and mental fitness. However, the Council of Ministers of BiH remains silent on the appeals of the trade unions of state police agencies, so the question arises whether someone aims to weaken state police agencies and the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina's borders as much as possible and make them porous to cross-border organized crime, drug cartels, terrorism, illegal entry of migrants or fugitives from justice.

Only a few individuals from the ruling coalition understand the scope of this problem, but their initiatives to increase the capacity and budget of these agencies have not been accepted, so the answer is clearly self-evident.