Security Ministry of BiH Refuses to Reinstate Dautbašić as Secretary for Second Year, Will Bošnjak Comply with the Decision?

For the second year, since December 2023, the Security Ministry of BiH has refused to implement a final court ruling and comply with decisions in the case of Bakir Dautbašić, reinstating him to the position of Secretary of the Security Ministry of BiH.

Instead of executing the verdict, certain employees of the Security Ministry of BiH, with the approval of Minister Nenad Nešić, have undertaken actions outside the scope of the Security Ministry of BiH against Dautbašić.

In April 2024, an oversight and legality assessment of the procedure conducted in the case „Bakir Dautbašić, security vetting – access permit to classified information“ was carried out. This oversight was performed by Ljubomir Kuravica, Chief Inspector, by order of Minister Nešić.

Given the illegal actions of Kuravica, Minister Nešić, and other individuals involved in this oversight, Dautbašić filed a complaint with the Joint Commission for Oversight of the Intelligence-Security Agency of BiH (OSA), which undertook certain activities in October 2024.

The Commission requested the Security Ministry of BiH to submit all minutes and decisions drafted by Chief Inspector Ljubomir Kuravica or other Ministry employees, pertaining to the complaint about the violation of the Law on Protection of Classified Information.

Dautbašić informed the Commission about the illegal conduct of oversight in the State Security Agency – Sector for Protection of Classified Information by Kuravica and Zoran Janković.

„Article 77 of the Law on Protection of Classified Information precisely stipulates that only the Joint Commission for Oversight of OSA is competent to conduct oversight of BiH institutions regarding the implementation of this law, and Article 75 of the same law prescribes that oversight of security vetting is exclusively conducted by the State Security Agency – Sector for Protection of Classified Information. Therefore, Ljubomir Kuravica's illegal intrusion into the protected area of the State Security Agency, as well as conducting oversight of files, constitutes a gross violation of the provisions of the aforementioned law,“ stated Dautbašić.

He further states that all procedures have been violated and the integrity of the security vetting process has been compromised.

The existence of the Inspectorate within the Security Ministry of BiH has also been questioned by the Ministry of Justice of BiH, which even ordered the deletion of this internal organizational unit from the Rulebook on Internal Organization, as the Security Ministry is not authorized for inspection oversight by any law.

Dautbašić received final decisions from the Second-Instance Commission for Review of Appeals in the Security Vetting Procedure in December 2023 and the BiH Civil Service Appeals Board in January 2024, which annulled all decisions declaring him redundant due to alleged security concerns.

Dautbašić served as Secretary of the Ministry from 2003 until March 2019, when an alleged security impediment to accessing classified information was determined.

For years, he has been engaged in a legal battle for his position, and for the second year, the leadership of the Security Ministry of BiH has refused to comply with the final decision and reinstate him as Secretary.

Given that Nenad Nešić was relieved of his duties as minister after being arrested at the end of December 2024, the Security Ministry of BiH was taken over by Deputy Minister Ivica Bošnjak (HDZ BiH). He now has the obligation to ensure lawful management of the Ministry and compliance with final decisions without further delay.

On the other hand, Patria has also written about the positions of secretaries in all nine state ministries. Out of nine secretaries, only two are Bosniaks, and two positions are vacant. Besides the one in the Security Ministry of BiH, the position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH is also vacant.

(A. Vrabac)