Which report goes to the BiH Presidency: Three truths about the engagement of the AFBiH on January 9, only one is correct

Yesterday, February 2, the investigation into the engagement of the Armed Forces of BiH at the celebration of the unconstitutional holiday of RS Day on January 9 was concluded. The six-member Commission appointed by the Chief of the Joint Staff of the AFBiH, General Anto Jeleč, included three Bosniaks, two Serbs, and one Croat, Patria reports.

During the investigation itself, there was obstruction, where attempts were made to hide the memos of three Bosniak officers who expressed their stance and opinion that this was an unconstitutional and illegal engagement of the AFBiH. One of them is the Commander of the Support Command, General Husein Tursunović, who, as required by the chain of command responsibility, also commented on the request of RS President Milorad Dodik and the request of the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Mladen Ivanić.

The Bosniak representatives on the commission demanded that the complete documentation be submitted to the Minister of Defense, Marina Pendeš, which the Serbian and Croatian representatives disagreed with, and thus, instead of one, three different reports were sent to her cabinet.

The only report that is comprehensive and presents the real picture of everything that happened around and on January 9 itself is the one signed by the three Bosniaks.

The other two reports are not complete, so in the one signed by two Serbian representatives on the commission, the part concerning the responsibility of Serbian generals is missing, and in the one signed by the Croats, the part concerning the responsibility of Minister Pendeš and General Jeleč is missing.

Which of these three reports will be presented to the members of the BiH Presidency next week at the regular session of the collective head of state is still unknown, because the decision is made by Minister Pendeš. It is possible that Mladen Ivanić, Bakir Izetbegović, and Dragan Čović will receive three reports, or they may receive only one, all depending on which one the minister deems least painful for herself and the rest of her associates.

It is absurd that the commission, by order of the minister, was formed by General Jeleč, who is also the subject of the investigation, because, among other things, on January 8, he stopped the order of Deputy Minister Sead Jusić prohibiting the engagement of members of the Third (Republika Srpska) Infantry Regiment of the AFBiH.

The question also arises as to why it was necessary to form a special commission at all, when the General Inspector of the Ministry of Defense of BiH, General Enes Husejnović, should have done his job in accordance with legal powers and authorities.

He was obliged, regardless of whether the minister gave him consent or not, to conduct an investigation into the engagement of AFBiH members on January 9, which General Giselle Wilz warned must not happen, and that if it did, sanctions would follow.

General Husejnović is silent, not speaking out in public at all, although he is the most qualified to speak in this specific case about the breakdown of the chain of command between the BiH Presidency, the Ministry of Defense of BiH, and the AFBiH. General Mašović is also absent from the public, to clarify how it is that every time there are "tangible" matters, as was the case now, he simply is not in the country but on some supposedly pre-arranged trip.

Also, silence from the BiH Prosecutor's Office, even though a criminal complaint against the minister and her deputies, Marina Pendeš, Boris Jerinić, and Sead Jusić, as well as the Chief of the Joint Staff and his deputies, Generals Ante Jeleč, Senad Mašović, and Mirko Tepšić, was filed by three parties: the SDP BiH, the Democratic Front, and the Citizens' Alliance.

The Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Mladen Ivanić, still claims that he had the right to line up members of the AFBiH in Banja Luka, although it is clear from the Law on Defense and the AFBiH that he, as a "third" of the supreme commander, can line up without the consent of his other two colleagues, Izetbegović and Čović, only the Honorary Unit, and certainly not the Third Regiment.