BiH Border Police published the testing schedule the day before the medical examination in Mostar, 12 cadets did not show up!?

By Amra Vrabac

Do you remember the compromised competition for the admission of cadets to the BiH Border Police? That competition from November 2020. Under strange circumstances and in the midst of a court proceeding for corruption in that competition, which has already been proven because three accused admitted guilt and were convicted, while three others are still on trial, including the president of the Cadet Admission Commission Rejhan Raković, who was fired from the BiH Border Police after his arrest, the procedures for admitting cadets continued. The final list was published on June 9, 2023, after numerous appeals, and now a new scandal has ensued.

As reported by the portal Radiosarajevo, 15 candidates failed the medical examination at last week's testing, and 12 candidates did not show up at all!? Sounds strange, doesn't it.

One of the cadets told Patria that he accidentally saw the notice on the BiH Border Police website because he was expecting a notification every day. Seven cadets from his group did not show up for the medical examination. The notice on the BiH Border Police website regarding the medical examination and completion of the security questionnaire for candidates nominated for employment was published on July 10, and cadet testing was scheduled for July 11 in Mostar at the Health Center! It's as if someone deliberately wanted as few candidates as possible to show up for the testing.

The competition itself, in addition to scandals, is shrouded in mystery, so we waited for days for a response from the BiH Border Police regarding multiple inquiries about the status of this competition. Very often, the answer contained only one sentence, even though we asked multiple questions. Part of the blame for everything that followed with this competition lies with the acting prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, Bojana Jolović, who apparently did not consider the competition compromised and did not seek its annulment or a temporary measure. If the competition had been annulled at the time of Raković's arrest (September 2021), the entire procedure could have been carried out regularly and according to the law by now. If the cadets passed this competition, why wouldn't they pass a repeated one.

Let's return to the cadet testing and the problems that arose. As stated in the BiH Border Police notice, candidates who do not attend the medical examination are excluded from further selection, and if the result of the medical examination check is negative, the candidate is excluded from further selection. Thus, that's already 27 fewer candidates from the list of 150 cadets, including 125 in the rank of police officer and 25 in the rank of junior inspector.

What is also problematic is that on the same day the medical examinations were scheduled, cadets were also required to submit a security questionnaire, as well as uncertified copies of diplomas for completed education that they attached to their application for the Public Advertisement, or which they stated in the questionnaire.

Cadets were divided into groups of 40, so the first group had testing on July 11, the second on July 12, and the third on July 13. The remaining five cadets in the rank of police officer had their testing on July 14. Testing for 25 junior inspectors was also held on July 14.

Given the new situation, the cadet admission procedure has become further complicated, and we are certainly awaiting the stance of the BiH Border Police.