Nakić on the ruling that the Council of Ministers discriminated against Bosniaks: We have proven a serious political influence on the operational work of security agencies

Interviewed by: A. Čorbo-Zećo

After the public was informed that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a first-instance ruling establishing that the former high-ranking police official of the Police Administration of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton, Mirsad Đelilović, was discriminated against by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina on national grounds, as a Bosniak, in the competition procedure for the selection and appointment of heads and deputy heads of law enforcement agencies at the state level, we contacted his lawyer Alen Nakić, who confirmed this information in an interview with Patria.

He emphasized that the ruling represents a consistent expression of the principles on discrimination arising from the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the case of Sejdić and Finci against Bosnia and Herzegovina.




In this regard, lawyer Nakić confirmed to us that the evidence of discriminatory treatment, both objective and subjective in nature, was inexorable.

This is particularly because in the proceedings before the Institution of the Human Rights Ombudsman, which preceded the initiation of the civil proceedings, discriminatory treatment towards Mr. Đelilović had already been proven. Unfortunately, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina completely ignored the Ombudsman's recommendation.

„As much as I am delighted with the success in this case, I am unfortunately simultaneously disappointed by the fact that in the proceedings, an attempt was made to defend as lawful that one and the same list be the basis for the appointment of heads and deputies from the Serbian and Croatian peoples, while Bosniak candidates were eliminated without a decision to annul the competition and announce a new one for their positions.

This phenomenon indicates a serious political influence on the operational work of law enforcement agencies, which is prohibited by law.

It indicates a readiness to select leaders who are politically suitable for certain political and ethnic options, rather than those who achieved the best results in the competition procedure,“ Nakić points out.

The Court itself stated in the ruling that such conduct constitutes a gross violation of the regulations governing the selection and appointment of heads of law enforcement agencies.

„Given the described state of affairs, the only possibility was actually to establish discrimination and award damages, so the positions of those selected in the competition procedure that was conducted, while the earlier one was not annulled, are not threatened,“ Nakić notes.

However, the Đelilović case will be recorded in legal annals as the first case of proven discrimination against Bosniaks on a national basis, and in one of the most important segments of society, i.e., the security segment.

In this regard, Nakić particularly emphasizes that, given the described state of affairs, the finding and award of damages represent a minimum of satisfaction, while full satisfaction can only be achieved by removing the mechanisms of discrimination so that Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs do not find themselves in a situation where they are discriminated against on a national basis by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as was done to Mr. Mirsad Đelilović.