Minister Mektić at Court over Statements on Inaction of Judiciary in BiH

Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Mektić appeared today at the Municipal Court in Sarajevo for a preliminary hearing in the defamation lawsuit filed by the Vice-President of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) Ružica Jukić.

Jukić sued Mektić for defamation after his appearance on a television show on FTV, in which Mektić spoke about the corruption in the BiH judiciary.

Mektić told reporters after the hearing that he did not understand what he was being accused of. In particular, he said, it was unclear to him why anyone would object if citizens gave their judgment and opinion on the holder of any office in BiH.

"It is about what I presented on the show Pošteno, in which I spoke about the inaction of the Prosecutor's Office and the HJPC and gave my opinion on the functioning of the judicial system in BiH," Mektić said.

"Why am I being accused of what individuals have presented on social networks? I only said that I was pleased that members of one nation did not speak out, but all three, which I find extremely impressive," he added.

Instead of Jukić, her lawyer Jelica Vuković attended the hearing today, who presented to the court recordings of the show Pošteno broadcast by Federal Television on March 6, as well as readings of articles from the Oslobođenje portal from March 9 and April 29.

Articles on several portals, as well as reactions from social network users, were proposed as evidence, as well as the hearing of witnesses on the circumstances of the claim about the kinship ties between Jukić and the acting Chief Prosecutor of BiH Gordana Tadić.

The main hearing is scheduled to begin on November 14.