USED TO BEING A HERO Too Late to Be Brave: Pašić Against the System He Himself Fed!

Written by: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Džermin Pašić reported Chief Prosecutor Milanko Kajganić over the suspended investigation into the case of subverting the constitutional order. The public welcomed this news with open arms, but – unfortunately – too late.

Pašić, apparently, has learned to be a hero (earlier, the US Embassy named him hero of the month, for the 'Respirators' case), so now the question is whether Pašić is doing this on the orders of his favorite embassy, or whether something else is at play.

When we say it is too late, here is why. This should have happened much earlier, even before Kajganić was elected Chief Prosecutor on October 20, 2022. Simply put, his appointment should not have been proceeded with until it was discovered how war crimes suspect Milomir Savčić escaped (August 10, 2021). The Prosecutor's Office of BiH still has no answer today about the manner of escape of a suspect for the most serious crimes.

For the escape, clearly, serious logistical support was needed, and Savčić certainly had it. Allegedly, the very top of the Republika Srpska and Serbia were involved. Earlier, under imposed restrictive measures, his BiH and Serbian passports, as well as his ID card, were confiscated, and he was banned from leaving his place of residence and traveling. Therefore, to cross the border, he must have had a wide chain of helpers.

No one in the Prosecutor's Office of BiH has ever seriously dealt with media revelations that it was precisely someone from that institution who tipped off Savčić that he would be remanded in custody and to – run!

And today, in the criminal complaint that Pašić filed on November 12 against his boss and prosecutor Vedrana Mijović with the State Prosecutor's Office, he accuses them of making decisions in favor of the then-suspect fugitives – Milorad Dodik, Radovan Višković, and Nenad Stevandić.

Let us recall, Kajganić earlier disbanded the team leading the investigation, which included Pašić himself, and entrusted the case to his loyal prosecutor Vedrana Mijović. Even then, it was clear where things were heading. But then, Pašić and others did not have the strength to respect the law – until a "higher power" (read: self-interest and position) forced them to act lawfully.

Nevertheless, the biggest problem is not only Kajganić. Not a single prosecutor reacted to the fact that Mijović – otherwise the daughter of a former SNSD member – has been privileged in the system for years. No one thought to report it. Incidentally, former Chief Prosecutor Gordana Tadić ended up on the US blacklist precisely because of abuse of the CMS system.

No one ever requested a check of the CMS (Case Management System) and explained how it is that Mijović gets all the cases of special political interest for Serbian politics in BiH. Admittedly, given how the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) works, perhaps nothing would have come of the report – but no one even tried. And in the meantime, many lives have been destroyed.

It is especially sad that everyone in the Prosecutor's Office of BiH remained silent about the fabricated indictments against members of the Army of RBiH and the Ministry of Interior of RBiH. The most glaring example is the "Dobrovoljačka" case – a crystal-clear case, as confirmed in The Hague – but even that was not enough for any prosecutor at the collegium of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH to ask: what is Kajganić actually doing? And, it was precisely by signing that indictment written in the Ekavian dialect that he rose to the head of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH!?

That is why today, although Pašić's complaint is a step that the public rightly welcomes, no official should be celebrated for finally deciding to respect the law. That is not an act of courage, but a basic duty of every prosecutor – to serve justice, not superiors, as most, unfortunately, do today.