While POSKOK investigates NiP cadre appointments: FBiH Government dismisses Željko Silađi

By a decision of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Silađi was dismissed from the position of director of the FBiH Government Office for Legislation and Compliance with EU Regulations. Silađi was officially relieved of his duties on June 10 this year due to, as stated in the Decision published in the Official Gazette of the Federation, “fulfilling the legal retirement age as a condition for termination of employment in a state body.” At the same time, a procedure was initiated to announce a public competition for a new director of the Office, Istraga reports.

There would be nothing controversial about this decision if the director of the Office for Legislation had not met the conditions for retirement back in January 2024, which was warned about by employees of the Office and some representatives in the federal Parliament. Despite this, Silađi remained in his position all this time (until yesterday).

The decision on his dismissal was made only after workers of the Sarajevo International Airport filed a criminal complaint against Silađi, members of the Supervisory Board of this public company, and several currently unidentified persons. At the same time, prosecutors from the Special Department for Combating Corruption, Organized and Inter-Cantonal Crime (POSKOK) began last month to seize documentation from the Office for Legislation. According to the allegations in the complaint, Silađi abused his official position by giving, as the complainants claim, a legally unfounded opinion that enabled the appointment of a person who does not meet the statutory conditions for the position of acting director of Sarajevo Airport.

Let us recall, Dino Selimović, a cadre of the People and Justice party and former advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković, was appointed in March as acting director of the Airport despite serious doubts regarding the fulfillment of conditions for this position. Due to contentious issues related to his work experience and potential conflict of interest, members of the Airport Supervisory Board sought the opinion of the Office for Legislation. The Office gave a positive opinion, concluding, among other things, that “acting officials, in our opinion, do not have to meet all the conditions prescribed for that position.”

The appointment of the current, as well as the previous management of the Sarajevo International Airport, is now under the scrutiny of investigative authorities. POSKOK prosecutors in May seized documentation from the Sarajevo International Airport and from the FBiH Government Office for Legislation, and the focus of the investigation is precisely on the acts and opinions of the Office for Legislation regarding the granting of consent on the fulfillment of conditions for appointments in the Airport management.

In addition to the appointment of the Airport management, the extension of the mandate of the acting director of the Federal Administration of Civil Protection (FUCZ) Aldin Brašnjić is also disputed, for which “cover” was also sought through the Office for Legislation. In April this year, the Office gave a positive response to Aldin Brašnjić's inquiry as to whether he could perform the duty of “temporarily appointed director” and whether this was in accordance with the Law. From the available documentation, it appears that the name of Željko Silađi appears in almost all key phases of the procedures that preceded the appointment of Aldin Brašnjić, as well as in the activities that followed. His role includes giving positive opinions on amendments to the Rulebook on Internal Organization, as well as subsequent interpretations that sought to provide a legal basis for retaining the status of “temporarily appointed director” even after the annulment of the competition procedure.