HDZ Deputy Security Minister sought opinion from Ćulum, who stated amendments to SIPA Law are unnecessary!

(Patria) - At the next session of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, scheduled for January 22, the agenda includes the Bill on Amendments to the Law on the State Investigation and Protection Agency, proposed by MP Jasmin Emrić.

These amendments concern Article 10 of the SIPA Law, which stipulates that in cases where the director and deputy director are unable to fulfill their duties and responsibilities, or voluntarily leave their post, or their service ends due to other circumstances, and the deputy director position is vacant or the deputy director is unable to perform their duties and responsibilities for other reasons, the duties and responsibilities of the director, as per Article 8 of this law, shall be assumed and carried out by a leading police officer from departments and units in the order established by Article 11 of this law, from point a) to point e).

Paragraph (3) stipulates that a leading police officer from the departments and units referred to in paragraph (2) of this article shall assume the duties and responsibilities of the director immediately upon the determination of the fulfillment of the conditions from paragraph (2) of this article by the competent sector for administration and internal support of SIPA, and shall temporarily perform them until the appointment of an acting director, or until the director or deputy director are able to resume their duties and responsibilities, or until the appointment of a director or deputy director."

Emrić proposed these amendments back in June 2025, following an unprecedented situation at the State Investigation and Protection Agency. In March 2025, SIPA Director Darko Ćulum resigned and stopped coming to work. During that time, he served as an advisor in the MUP RS, making himself available to RS authorities in undermining the constitutional order. At that moment, SIPA had no deputy director either, so SIPA was managed by three officers authorized by Ćulum on the day of his resignation. The absurdity of the situation is highlighted by the fact that such a situation, or anything similar, has never been recorded since SIPA's establishment in 2002.

To make matters worse, Ćulum returned to SIPA after four months, withdrawing his resignation because the Council of Ministers of BiH had not dismissed him, nor had the Independent Board of the BiH Parliament reached an agreement on a proposal for his dismissal. Political turmoil and the control that political parties have over police agencies, as well as bodies that appoint heads of police agencies, were best demonstrated by this case.

In July, Emrić and Šemsudin Mehmedović filed a criminal complaint against Ćulum, but to date, the BiH Prosecutor's Office has not officially informed the proposers whether an investigation will be conducted or not. However, considering the orders not to conduct investigations in the cases of Dodik, Stevandić, and Višković, it is very likely that Ćulum will also avoid criminal responsibility. His term expired back in July 2024. However, even the parties of the Trojka coalition have not clearly defined their stance towards Ćulum, remaining silent for months about the appointment of a new director, while Ćulum effectively runs SIPA.

Precisely to prevent such a situation from ever happening again, Emrić proposed these amendments.

The absurdity continues, as evidenced by the fact that the Deputy Minister of Security of BiH, Ivica Bošnjak (HDZ BiH), who has been heading the ministry since the arrest of Nenad Nešić, sought an opinion on Emrić's proposal precisely from Darko Ćulum, who was the very reason for Emrić's proposal.

Ćulum stated that the Agency (SIPA) is of the opinion that the amendments to the Bill are unnecessary, for the reason that the Agency should not be singled out from other administrative organizations within the Ministry of Security of BiH. Ćulum also stated that as of November 4, 2025, SIPA has a deputy director who, in case of the director's inability, replaces the director in fulfilling duties, and noted that according to the Rulebook on Internal Organization of SIPA, there are also three advisors who assist the director in management and leadership.