Can Zukan Helez condition the appointment of SIPA Director Slobodan Radinkovic with the dismissal of fugitive Zoran Galic?

By Amra Vrabac

The next session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, scheduled for Monday, September 16, could be turbulent if the Minister of Defense of BiH, Zukan Helez, places state interests above party and coalition interests.

Namely, although the ministers of Bosniak ethnicity in the Council of Ministers of BiH have requested the dismissal of fugitive Zoran Galic, who is the Deputy Director of SIPA, they do not have the support of other ministers, especially those from HDZ, whose loyal cadre Galic is.

However, things could become further complicated if Helez, without whose vote the agenda cannot be set, nor can the Director of SIPA be appointed (as final and executive decisions require a simple majority including the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers and deputies), does not condition his support for Slobodan Radinkovic with the dismissal of Galic.

Patria reported back in July that Slobodan Radinkovic, head of the Police Administration of the MUP RS Doboj, is the favorite for the position of SIPA Director, which has proven true today. Although Radinkovic is only third on the ranking list, the Minister of Security of BiH, Nenad Nesic, will propose Radinkovic for the appointment as SIPA Director.

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The fight for SIPA Director will be between Ćulum and Radinković

(Patria) - All seven applications received for the election of the Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) of BiH are timely and complete, and these candidates will participate in the further procedure. This information was confirmed by the Independent Board, which is in

However, this appointment could be the key to the dismissal of Galic, who is on an Interpol red notice, after he fled Bosnia and Herzegovina to Croatia on July 8 and evaded arrest on suspicion of abuse of office and receiving a bribe while he was the Director of the BiH Border Police.

Galic has no justification for his absence nor is he receiving a salary, but he has never been dismissed from his position. Through his legal team, he has submitted a request for dismissal as he meets the conditions for retirement, but such a scenario is unacceptable to the ministers of Bosniak ethnicity who do not want to grant Galic the right to certain benefits and a severance payment upon retirement. Galic is enjoying his freedom in Croatia, and this EU member state has refused to detain Galic nor does it intend to extradite him to the BiH judiciary, given that he is also a Croatian citizen.

According to the law, there is no obstacle for Darko Ćulum to remain in the position of SIPA Director until a new director is appointed. Therefore, SIPA will not be headless, nor is it the first time that personnel have remained at the head of police agencies after their mandates expired until new ones were appointed. Such a case occurred with the Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies.

A more important issue than appointing a new SIPA director is to remove the stain from this state agency and dismiss Galic. Of course, if there is political wisdom and readiness from Bosniak cadres to protect the interests of the state of BiH.