Fiso Hides Who He Gave Money To: Did the Halilovic Family Foundation Receive a Million KM in Five Years?

The Ministry for Veterans' Affairs of Sarajevo Canton announced a Public Call for associations for financing/co-financing of programs and projects in 2017 in January this year, but it is still not known to the public who the recipients of funds from the Sarajevo Canton Budget are, writes Patria agency. In the past four public calls, the Pravednost Foundation, founded by Semir Halilovic and members of the family of Sefer Halilovic, president of BPS, received 800,000 KM from the Sarajevo Canton Budget!

For more than 15 days, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Muharem Fiso, has refused to answer an official inquiry sent by Patria agency with the following questions:

- Please answer whether the Ministry for Veterans' Affairs has allocated funds to associations, organizations, and foundations following the Public Call published on January 25th for financing/co-financing of programs and projects in 2017.
- Please provide a list of associations that received funds, how much, and for which projects?

Instead of answering the inquiry, Minister Fiso called the Patria editorial office and asked:

- What do you want from me? You send me some inquiry every month, asking for something?

We replied to the minister that we sent the last inquiry on June 6, 2016, to which he never responded, and that we are now asking him to answer whether he gave funds and to whom according to the public call.

- You want me to list them now. There are many. Come to me, and we can sit down and talk nicely. Come on Monday – said Fiso.

Although we respected Minister Fiso and came to the scheduled and requested meeting, it did not take place because Minister Fiso said to come on Tuesday. We are informing the minister through this that we will not come to the meeting, but his obligation to answer who he gave money from the Sarajevo Canton budget to remains.

According to public calls from 2016 and 2015, Fiso allocated 400,000 KM to the Foundation for the Protection of Historical Facts "Pravednost" Sarajevo, founded by the Halilovics in September 2013. Since its establishment in 2013, the Foundation has received a total of 800,000 KM.

For years, cadres from BPS Sefer Halilovic have been at the head of this ministry. Before Minister Fiso, the previous minister, Faid Hećo (BPS), allocated 400,000 KM over two years.

The Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton confirmed for Patria agency that a case has been opened regarding the allocation of funds to this Foundation and that active work is being done. This could be the reason why Semir Halilovic, a representative in the KS Assembly, attacked the Chief Prosecutor of KS Dalida Burzic in his statements during sessions.

According to data previously obtained from the Ministry for Veterans' Affairs for 2014, the money was distributed as follows:

- Funds were allocated to 18 individuals in amounts ranging from 1,500 KM to 5,125 KM, as well as to legal teams for the defense of the accused in the Trusina and Igman cases, amounting to 10,000 KM.

- Refund of costs for expert reports for the defense of accused members of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in proceedings before BiH courts amounted to 73,000 KM. 4,100 KM was spent on the purchase of relevant documents for the "Silos" case, i.e., the case of eight accused from Hadzici, while 16,000 KM was spent on the costs of producing video materials.

According to the agreement signed for employee costs, the Foundation had a budget of 20%, or 40,000 KM per tranche received. This means that over four years, the Foundation, which has only a few employees, had 160,000 KM for its own needs.

Since June 2016, Minister Fiso has avoided answering questions about the control of funds allocated by the Ministry to the Foundation for the Protection of Historical Facts "Pravednost" Sarajevo.

Management Board Changed

According to the registry of the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Pravednost Foundation is registered at the address Ćemaluša 6, which is also the headquarters of BPS. The founders of the Foundation for the Protection of Historical Facts "Pravednost" are: Semir Halilovic, Medina Delalic, Nusret Halilovic, Sead Gajevic, and Smajo Halilovic.

The only change made was in the composition of the Management Board. At the time of its founding, the members of the Management Board were: Semir Halilovic, Nusret Halilovic, Sead Gajevic, Smajo Halilovic. According to data from this year, the members of the Management Board are: Adnan Velagic, Mesud Hero, Anisa Medar, and Maja Kundacina.

Changes relate to the Management Board, but not to the founders