Two Years Without a Prosecutor's Decision for Suspended Judge Dalida Burzić, No Indictment for Debevec Either

The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has yet to make a decision regarding Dalida Burzić, a judge of the State Court who was suspended by a decision of the First-Instance Disciplinary Commission of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council until the conclusion of the criminal investigation being conducted against her, Detektor has confirmed.

While some media in BiH reported that the investigation against Judge Burzić had been halted, in response to Detektor's inquiry, the State Prosecutor's Office stated that the public will be informed when a prosecutorial decision in the case is made.

“A prosecutorial decision in the aforementioned case has not been made,” they responded.

Detektor previously reported that Burzić, by a decision of the First-Instance Disciplinary Commission for Judges of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC BiH) in September 2022, was removed from her duties until the conclusion of the investigation launched against her by the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

According to reports from certain media in BiH, the State Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation against several individuals in the “Dženan Memić” case – several members of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton and one traffic expert, for the criminal offense of murder and aiding the perpetrator after the criminal offense, but Detektor did not receive official confirmation from this institution regarding what exactly Burzić is suspected of.

The Federal Police Administration has taken over the investigation in the “Dženan Memić” case, which is being conducted by the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they confirmed for Detektor.

“In the coming period, investigators of the Federal Police Administration, under the supervision of the acting prosecutor, will undertake measures and actions within their jurisdiction to resolve the specific criminal offense,” they stated in their response.

Goran Šimić, a legal expert, believes that it was expected that, for the sake of transparency of the State Prosecutor's Office, prosecutors, and judges, the investigation would be conducted expeditiously and the results made known as soon as possible.

“I believe that the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of BiH must work on their transparency. Trials are neither simple nor fast; in some cases, they are long and complicated. The principles of conducting criminal proceedings – the principle of expeditiousness and economy – require that, in the name of the public and the suspects, the proceedings be conducted as quickly as possible, without compromising the quality of work,” Šimić told Detektor, emphasizing that prosecutors should not prolong proceedings longer than necessary.

According to data previously collected by Detektor, five judges and prosecutors of the state judiciary earned nearly 822,000 marks during lengthy suspensions. From September 2, 2022, to January 25, 2024, Burzić was paid 98,685 marks.

The State Prosecutor's Office did not provide Detektor with the exact amounts paid to three suspended prosecutors. They explained that the suspended prosecutors were paid salaries in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Salaries and Allowances in Judicial and Prosecutorial Institutions at the BiH level, starting from the day of their temporary removal from the prosecutor's duties.

The BiH Prosecutor's Office has also not yet made a prosecutorial decision in the case against Ranko Debevec, the suspended President of the State Court, who was arrested for abuse of office during an operation in December 2023 along with Osman Mehmedagić, the former head of the Intelligence-Security Agency.

Milanko Kajganić, Chief Prosecutor of the State Prosecutor's Office, stated after the arrests in December 2023 that Debevec and Mehmedagić were suspected of criminal offenses of abuse of office, related to other criminal offenses, emphasizing that it was not possible to provide additional details and information. They each spent three months in custody.

Šimić believes it was expected that the BiH Prosecutor's Office would make a decision in this case within a few months, because otherwise it creates public doubt about the work of the Prosecutor's Office.

“Because to arrest the President of the Court of BiH, I am sure there must have been reasonable suspicion. If it exists, then I would expect an indictment to be filed in the near future, but that is not happening. (…) We have been waiting for months and years, and nothing is happening,” says Šimić, adding that some indictments, accompanied by spectacular arrests, have failed, and no one has been held accountable for that.