Cantonal Court Ruled: Appointment of HNC Police Commissioner Illegal

The Cantonal Court in Mostar has issued a ruling that the selection of Ilija Lasić as Police Commissioner of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton was carried out illegally, reports Federalna.ba, as carried by the Patria agency. 

The authorities, according to the same source, are obliged to dismiss the current police commissioner and conduct a new appointment procedure.

The court upheld the appeal of Amir Begić, one of the candidates for HNC police commissioner, and issued a ruling establishing that the appointment of Ilija Lasić was illegal. According to the ruling, the authorities are obliged to dismiss him from his position and complete the procedure for electing a new commissioner in accordance with the law.

The HDZ BiH is refraining from comment until the official receipt of the ruling and its explanation.

The opposition emphasizes that the ruling has returned the process of appointing the HNC commissioner to the beginning and expects the authorities to act in accordance with the enforceable ruling.

The appointment of the police commissioner is one of the main contentious issues between the ruling HDZ BiH and SDA, which has repeatedly warned about the unequal distribution of leadership positions in the canton's security vertical, i.e., that the minister and police commissioner of HNC cannot be from the same ethnic group.