Did HDZ agree with SNSD on the appointment of the Deputy Director of SIPA?

Two sessions of the Independent Board of the BiH Parliament are scheduled for Tuesday, April 15, which will include, among other things, interviews with candidates for the Deputy Director of SIPA, and the determination of a ranking list to be sent to the BiH Ministry of Security, provided there is a quorum for the Independent Board to operate.

The Independent Board opened applications at the end of January, and received six applications from Đuro Knežević, Dragan Andrić, Svevlad Hoffman, Marijo Pavlinović, Kristijan Suknjov, and Igor Marić.

Knežević has already served two terms as Deputy Director of SIPA, and after his term expired, he was appointed Deputy Director of DKPT in February 2023. He is a cadre close to HDZ. In February 2023, Zoran Galić was appointed Deputy Director of SIPA instead of Knežević. In July 2024, he fled to Croatia to avoid arrest because the BiH Prosecutor's Office suspects him of abuse of office while he was the Director of the BiH Border Police. Croatia refuses to extradite him because he is also a Croatian citizen. The BiH Council of Ministers finally dismissed him from duty in October 2024, at his own request, as no disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him.

However, HDZ still wants this position. It is already being heard that Knežević is the closest to this position, and he also has an advantage due to the fact that he has already served two terms in SIPA, and this police agency has been in a very unfavorable position for some time.

In addition to not having a deputy director since July last year, SIPA has also not had a director since March 18, as Darko Ćulum resigned and authorized three individuals to manage SIPA. Following the laws adopted by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, including the one prohibiting the work of SIPA and BiH judicial institutions in the territory of Republika Srpska, for which the BiH Prosecutor's Office is conducting an investigation for an attack on the constitutional order, and calling for the abandonment of these institutions, Ćulum decided to move to the MUP of Republika Srpska. However, Ćulum is still the director of SIPA because the BiH Council of Ministers, due to the blockade by SNSD ministers Srđan Amidžić and Staša Košarac, could not dismiss him, so that this agency would not be completely headless.

However, even if the Independent Board completes the prescribed procedure, the final decision rests with the BiH Council of Ministers. And when it comes to appointments, Košarac's vote is needed for the appointment to be on the agenda, as he is in the Collegium of the BiH Council of Ministers, as well as one vote from ministers of Serb ethnicity during the vote on the appointment itself.

However, given that HDZ has not supported any dismissals of SNSD cadres so far, and even participates in the blockade of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament, it can be expected that SNSD will return the favor to Dragan Čović in this way and enable the appointment of the Deputy Director of SIPA.

What is important to note is that a ranking list for the Director of SIPA was also determined last year, but due to certain disagreements, this appointment never made it to the agenda of the BiH Council of Ministers. At that time, the BiH Minister of Security was Nenad Nešić, who, according to the agreement within the “Serb corps,” was supposed to propose Slobodan Radinković for director. Darko Ćulum (term expired in July 2024), as well as Ljubiša Pandurević from SIPA, remained on the list. Radinković is linked to criminal groups whose members were arrested by SIPA a few days ago.

That ranking list is still valid, and there is a possibility that the Deputy Minister of Security of BiH, Ivica Bošnjak (HDZ), who has been managing the Ministry of Security of BiH since Nešić's arrest and subsequent dismissal, will put the proposal to a vote with a prior political agreement. If no one receives support, the competition for director is repeated. If the appointment of the deputy director is also on the same session, and that appointment passes, then SIPA will have a manager who can fully manage SIPA.

The outcome of the situation regarding SIPA should be clearer by Tuesday, and if the Independent Board or some of its members from Republika Srpska decide to block it, then that is already a matter for the judicial institutions.

Members of the NO are: president Enes Obralija, Miše Ćavar, Enes Bezdrob, Nikola Džambas, Muhamed Mujakić, Darko Kremenović, Mate Miletić, and Milan Stanić.

Incidentally, the Independent Board of the BiH Parliament did not initiate disciplinary proceedings against Ćulum, although he attended a meeting in Banja Luka on March 2, which was also attended by Milorad Dodik and Željka Cvijanović, and the Minister of MUP RS Siniša Karan. On March 7, Ćulum ordered employees of the Regional Office Banja Luka to leave their workplaces, which he later justified as March 8.

On April 4, Ćulum attended the Police Day of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka, but clearly in the capacity of an advisor in that police agency, not the Director of SIPA.

A. Vrabac