Most corruption reports for state administration and judiciary, reduced number of whistleblower reports

BANJA LUKA, (Patria) - Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) processed 173 corruption cases through the Centre for Legal Aid in the Fight Against Corruption, and citizens made over a thousand calls to the free corruption reporting line 0800 55555. The largest number of corruption reports related to two sectors: state administration and judiciary (55%). The reporters were most often victims or witnesses (over 80% of them), and there was a significant decrease in reports filed by so-called whistleblowers. This indicates that citizens still lack confidence in the existing legal mechanisms for protecting individuals who report corruption from their immediate work environment.

It is particularly concerning that an increasing number of reports relate to flagrant violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms, such as the right to freedom of movement. The case of activists from the group "Justice for David" (PZD) stands out, where suspicions of corruption in the highest police structures have emerged. TI BiH assisted PZD activists in drafting requests for the protection of constitutionally guaranteed rights against the police director as the responsible person who managed the activities of police officers who prevented these individuals from moving around the central church in Banja Luka.

In their reports, citizens highlighted suspicions of non-transparent spending of money, inefficient administration, lengthy court proceedings, unprofessional conduct of judges and prosecutors, as well as conflicts of interest of executive officials and elected representatives. In 2019, TI BiH won as many as 19 administrative disputes in proceedings for exercising the right to access information. The most common reasons for these disputes were institutions' refusal to apply the Law on Free Access to Information at all, administrative silence, and unlawful invocation of personal data protection, etc. These disputes are important because TI BiH gains insights into corruption in a large number of cases based on information held by public authorities.

In 2019, TI BiH filed as many as 7 criminal charges against officials and responsible persons on grounds of suspicion that they had committed criminal offenses of corruption. The reports most often related to abuse of position or authority, and some related to public companies that did not conduct public procurement procedures ("Sarajevoputevi" d.d.), or conducted them unlawfully (Mine and Thermal Power Plant "Gacko", "Kreka" Mines). One report also concerned a conflict of interest that was not resolved by the director of JKP VITKOM d.o.o. Vitez, who also held the position of municipal councilor at the time of her appointment.

Based on TI BiH reports, two public calls for applications were annulled due to established irregularities, and a case of a fake diploma was uncovered in the RS Tax Administration (PU RS). The Municipality of Kalinovik and the Oriental Institute had to annul public calls for applications where non-transparent practices or practices of favoring predetermined candidates were observed, while the RS Tax Administration is taking measures to dismiss the employee, and only after TI BiH's renewed interest.