Sarajevo Cantonal Court Orders: Documentation Seized, KS Prosecutor's Office Investigating How Konaković Distributed Grants

Financial Police officers seized documentation at the Sarajevo Canton Assembly related to the distribution of grants from the current reserve during 2019, Istraga.ba has learned.

The documentation was seized as part of a criminal case initiated against the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, who was the Speaker of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly during that period.

The KS Prosecutor's Office confirmed the seizure of the documentation.

“By order of the Sarajevo Cantonal Court, under the supervision of the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office, the FBiH Financial Police temporarily seized documentation from the KS Assembly in the case of the allocation of financial resources by Elmedin Konaković, Speaker of the KS Assembly, during 2019,” they told Istraga.ba from the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office.

We remind you that in October 2019, the editor of Istraga, writing for Žurnal.info, revealed that the Government of Sarajevo Canton had transferred at least 325,000 marks of earmarked funds to the Cabinet of the Speaker of the KS Assembly, which Elmedin Konaković later arbitrarily distributed as grants to associations close to his political party.

“The reallocation of funds in the Budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2019 in the amount of 60,000 marks is approved, namely: from budget item 17 Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, head 02, spending unit 0001 – Police Administration, from economic code – expenses for education at the police academy, to budget item 10 KS Assembly, deputies and parliamentary groups, head 03, spending unit 0001 – Cabinet of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the KS Assembly to economic code: capital transfers to non-profit organizations,” stated the Conclusion of the KS Government adopted on September 12, 2019, published in the Official Gazette of Sarajevo Canton.

This amount is identical to the amount Elmedin Konaković donated to the Bosniak Academy of Sciences and Arts, founded by Muamer Zukorlić, one of the ideologues of NiP, who passed away two years later.

“Expenses for loan obligations – interest on domestic borrowing,” read the description behind the economic code from which the KS Government removed 80,000 marks on June 27, 2019. The money was transferred to the Cabinet of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the KS Assembly. The decision published in the Official Gazette of KS did not specify how the Speaker of the KS Assembly would spend this money.

By the Conclusion of the KS Government dated March 29, 2019, money that was in the account of the KS Ministry of Economy and planned for the support of “projects of the KS Chamber of Commerce, KS Crafts Chamber, and KS Employers' Association” was transferred to the Cabinet of the Speaker of the KS Assembly. The head of the Assembly then transferred these 50,000 marks to non-profit organizations.

What is particularly interesting is the conclusion from August 1, 2019. According to the KS Budget, the KS Ministry of Spatial Planning planned to allocate 100,000 KM for “reconstruction, adaptation, renovation, and construction of religious and cultural-historical objects.” However, that money was transferred to the Cabinet of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the KS Assembly for the same purposes. Thus, instead of the Government of Sarajevo Canton, Elmedin Konaković allocated money for religious buildings. All conclusions were signed by the then Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton – Edin Forto.

Immediately after that “internal transfer,” the then Speaker of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, Elmedin Konaković, approved 100,000 marks for “securing housing” for the needs of the imam of the Imperial Mosque in Sarajevo. The decision was made on August 29, 2019, and the budget funds were transferred to the account of the Majlis of the Islamic Community in Sarajevo.

“Financial resources in the amount of 100,000 marks are approved for the Majlis of the Islamic Community Sarajevo for the purpose of supporting activities, and for the realization of the project of securing housing for the needs of the imam of the Imperial Mosque. The funds from point 1 will be debited from the position of the Cabinet of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, account – capital transfers to non-profit organizations,” stated the Decision signed by Elmedin Konaković.

The explanation of the Decision stated that the Majlis of the Islamic Community Sarajevo had approached the Speaker of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly with a request for a donation of funds to secure housing for the needs of the imam of the Imperial Mosque, and that Speaker Konaković had granted their request.

The imam of the Imperial Mosque whose “housing issue” was resolved is hafiz Sadrudin Išerić.

After this information was published, the then SDA cantonal delegate Aljoša Čampara was the first to react.

“It is irresponsible and shameful that local officials have such a position. And it is obvious that they are using these hundreds and hundreds of thousands of marks non-transparently. According to Article 10 of the Law on Budget Execution of KS, funds from the current reserve planned in the Budget are used for unforeseen purposes for which funds are not planned in the budget or for purposes for which it is shown during the year that insufficient funds were allocated because they could not be foreseen during budget planning. The essence of current reserve funds is that they are distributed without a public call, for urgent and unforeseen situations. When you look at how Konaković distributes this money (like the case of 60,000 KM for Zukorlić's BANU), you see that it is contrary to the legal description of the current reserve,” said Aljoša Čampara in October 2019.

A year later, Aljoša Čampara left the SDA and soon joined Elmedin Konaković's NiP.