AFTER THE DISMISSED FUGITIVE GALIĆ, IS ĐURO KNEŽEVIĆ RETURNING TO SIPA AS DEPUTY DIRECTOR?

By: Amra Vrabac

After the fugitive Zoran Galić was finally dismissed as Deputy Director of SIPA on October 23rd at the BiH Council of Ministers session, the announcement of a competition for that vacant position is expected soon.

The session of the Independent Board is scheduled for October 30th, and a decision on the competition could be made then.

According to Patria's information circulating within SIPA, there are already several candidates for this position, all of them Croats. Although it is true that since the establishment of the State Investigation and Protection Agency, the director has been a Serb and the deputy a Croat, when observing other management positions in SIPA, it is evident that Bosniaks have been disadvantaged in terms of management staff.

Here's how. The Director of SIPA is Darko Ćulum (Serb), the deputy is a Croat (the dismissed Galić), and the commander of SIPA's Special Unit is Dalibor Milošević (Serb). Previously, Bosniaks held this position, first Mirsad Vilić, and the last one was Enes Karić, who became the Director of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies in July 2023. Instead of Karić, Zdravko Pajić was appointed acting commander of the Special Unit, and Milošević was appointed commander of the Special Support Unit as of September 1, 2023.

The Head of the Criminal Investigation Department is Suad Hasanović. Therefore, Bosniaks have lost one management position.

Thus, appointing a Deputy Director of SIPA from among Bosniaks should be a legitimate demand of the parties of the 'trojka' that form the state government. However, considering the numerous positions they have ceded to HDZ and SNSD cadres, it is clear that they will not oppose the HDZ this time either, which is sovereignly managing personnel in this police agency.

Let's return to the potential candidates. The only Croat in SIPA with the appropriate rank for Deputy Director is Dragan Andrić. However, Vladimir Popović, a long-standing cadre of the BiH Border Police and one of Zoran Galić's closest associates during his tenure as Director of the BP BiH, is also interested in this position. Galić himself is suspected of criminal offenses of abuse of office and receiving gifts while he was the director of this police agency. Popović was his trusted man and is also well-regarded since Mirko Kuprešaković was appointed Director of BP BiH. Patria has previously written about Popović's actions, and numerous complaints about irregularities in BP BiH have been sent to the BiH Prosecutor's Office, where six cases have been formed.

However, what is being talked about more and more is the return of Đuro Knežević to SIPA.

We remind you that Knežević served as deputy for two terms. During the tenure of Director Perica Stanić (SDS), Knežević had complete freedom and managed important processes within SIPA. The situation was similar during Darko Ćulum's tenure. Since February 2023, Knežević has been the Deputy Director of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies (DKPT). However, he is ready to leave this position and return to SIPA. Several complaints have also been filed against Knežević with the BiH Prosecutor's Office, both for controversial appointments of suitable cadres in SIPA and for some other irregularities.

If only these candidates, i.e., only Croats, apply for the position of Deputy Director, it will show that the 'trojka' parties, which claim to defend the interests of Bosniaks, do not plan to confront the HDZ and Dragan Čović, but rather to enable the installation of their cadres throughout BiH's security apparatus.

Incidentally, regarding SIPA, at the end of 2023, it had 735 employees. The national structure of employees is mixed, with Bosniaks being the most numerous (315, although there may have been changes in 2024), Serbs 298, and Croats 125.

According to the analysis of national representation, Bosniaks are short by 56 compared to their entitlement, Serbs have 70 more, Croats have 11 more, while 24 employees from other ethnic groups are missing. Data for 2024 are not available, but a very small deviation from these figures is possible.