When Political Loyalists Forget Law, Rights and the BiH Constitution: The Independent Committee in the Service of Darko Ćulum

By: Amra Vrabac

Yesterday's session of the Independent Committee of the BiH Parliament showed the full dependence of this body on current policies and those who appointed them to their positions. Law, rights, the BiH Constitution clearly do not exist for four members of the Independent Committee, only the political orders of party leaders.

For how else can one interpret the stance of four members who abstained, and one who even voted against the decision to initiate the removal of Darko Ćulum from the position of SIPA director, after he was absent from his workplace for four months, submitting his resignation on the political orders of the RS leadership, thereby directly participating in an attack on the constitutional order.

Those who abstained were Miše Ćavar, Nikola Džambas, Mate Miletić from the Croatian people, and Darko Kremenović from the Serbian people, while Milan Stanić from the Serbian people voted against the proposal. Voting in favor of the conclusion to send an initiative to the BiH Council of Ministers for Ćulum's removal were Enes Obralija, Enes Bezdrob, and Muhamed Mujakić.

However, that was not enough. Following this decision by the Independent Committee, headlines emerged stating that Ćulum remains at the helm of SIPA. On one hand, this could be accepted as true, but on the other, everything is still in the hands of the BiH Council of Ministers. Ćulum's mandate expired in July 2024, a competition procedure was conducted, and the list of successful candidates includes three names: Ćulum, Slobodan Radinković, and Ljubiša Pandurević. The BiH Council of Ministers has not considered this appointment since September 2024. And it is questionable when it will, due to the blockade by ministers from the Serbian people who are protecting Ćulum.

A complicating factor is that since July 2024, SIPA has had no deputy director because Zoran Galić fled to Croatia to avoid arrest.

And how the so-called Independent Committee works is best shown by the Galić case and everything that happened, followed by the Ćulum case. The Independent Committee never initiated disciplinary proceedings against Galić; he was removed only at his own request in October 2024. Then the competition procedure for the deputy director was dragged out.

When Darko Ćulum attended a meeting with political leaders of the RS and other heads of police agencies and OSA from the Serbian people on March 2, that too was not considered problematic by the Independent Committee.

The Independent Committee also "whitewashed" Ćulum's decision from March 7, when he ordered SIPA employees to leave their workplaces in Banja Luka, justifying it by March 8! And it is clear to everyone, except the members of the Independent Committee, that Ćulum acted according to unconstitutional laws that banned the work of the Court, the Prosecutor's Office, the HJPC, and SIPA on the territory of the RS.

And just as that affair ended, Ćulum, with his resignation on March 18, "confirmed his professionalism," as some political representatives of the Troika called him, turning a blind eye to what was happening. Ćulum moved to the RS MUP, and SIPA was left without legal leadership. SIPA was run by police officers authorized by Ćulum!

The BiH Council of Ministers never dismissed Ćulum, and he used that very fact as an alibi to return to the helm of SIPA on July 14, as if he had not participated in the destruction of the constitutional order of BiH and its institutions.

In the Ćulum case, everyone in the chain of responsibility failed: the BiH Council of Ministers, the Independent Committee, and the BiH Prosecutor's Office, which to this day refuses to confirm or deny that Ćulum has the status of a suspect.

Apparently, only the BiH Prosecutor's Office can remove Ćulum from his position if it issues an arrest warrant. However, given who remains working on the case of the attack on the constitutional order, that scenario is unlikely.

The silence of international partners and missions that cooperate with SIPA is also surprising, that they are not bothered by and do not see as a problem cooperation with a man who put politics above professional service and the law.

But in this country, anything is possible, including that people who destroy institutions, violate laws, deny the BiH Constitutional Court and its decisions, and are even paid from the state budget for such actions, are not prosecuted.

Both tragic and comical at the same time.