Kajganić and the agony of justice: From promises to silence, is he following in his predecessors' footsteps?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

More than half of the mandate of the Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milanko Kajganić, has passed, and the public is still awaiting concrete results of the announced "major crackdowns on crime and corruption". Since his appointment on October 20, 2022, his office has resembled a space of silence more than an institution leading the fight against crime in the country.

"And I am not Dodik's man, I have no communication with him or any politician! Everyone connected to crime should fear me! I did not ask any political party for support for my appointment; I owe no one anything!", Kajganić said in 2022.

If that is true, let the public now get an answer as to who these criminals from high-level corruption are that he has dealt with? Since then – almost nothing.

For example, the indictment known as Dobrovoljačka, which Kajganić signed along with Mladen Vukojičić, remains a symbol of legal revisionism. This is how Kajganić will be remembered! The confirmation of this indictment in the Court of BiH caused acrobatics of the legal system, and the process itself is agonizingly long, without a final epilogue. Many will say that this is the goal, to prolong the process, and for Serbian politics to 'wave' it around as proof that everyone was the same, both those who attacked and those who defended themselves.

The priorities of the Prosecutor's Office, under Kajganić's leadership, are clearly changing under political pressure. Indictments are mostly filed against members of the Army of RBiH and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while cases such as the siege of Sarajevo are neglected or completely ignored. Does such selective justice raise the question of whether Kajganić is managing the Prosecutor's Office for the protection of legality or for political interests?

The escape of Milomir Savčić, accused of genocide in Srebrenica, has still not been clarified. The media have also linked this case to Kajganić, but there are no results.

And while the Constitutional Court of BiH clearly points out unconstitutional practices, such as the celebration of the RS Day, the reaction of the Prosecutor's Office is absent. In the Prosecutor's Office, 16 days after the celebration of January 9th, there are no announcements of potential investigations. Kajganić's silence further deepens the perception that the Prosecutor's Office under his leadership functions more as a political instrument than as an independent judicial institution.

If this trend of immutability persists, Milanko Kajganić's mandate will be remembered for unfulfilled promises, selective justice, and fulfilling the wishes of certain political centers, rather than for the fight against crime and corruption for which he was appointed on the wings of former US Ambassador Michael Murphy.

And clearly, it was all a deception, just like the new government led by the Trojka, which Murphy also elevated to the stars. Today, we are more in blockades than in integration processes.

The question that remains open at this moment is whether Kajganić is following in the footsteps of his predecessors, who did not see the end of their mandates? BiH could become the first country where chief prosecutors are not immune to inaction. Inaction that has serious consequences, such as ignoring the denial of genocide or violations of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH and the celebration of the unconstitutional RS Day. And the lack of indictments for the siege of Sarajevo is a disgrace and a mirror of the entire institution.

Finally, what is the real meaning of Kajganić's leadership of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, if not to favor retrograde policies and politicians who see Bosnia and Herzegovina as a divided country! If it is otherwise, let Kajganić say what he has done to make the Prosecutor's Office a pillar of justice, law, and truth!