No grounds for prosecution of Minister Kaplan

The Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office has decided that the Federal Minister of Culture and Sport, Salmir Kaplan, did not commit any offense, even though he received 600 KM for accommodation in a city where he owns an apartment, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

The Prosecutor's Office explains that the Law on Salaries and Allowances in the bodies of authority of the Federation of BiH is vague and full of shortcomings, so the fact that Kaplan received an allowance for accommodation in Vogosca, despite owning an apartment in this Sarajevo municipality, cannot be grounds for criminal prosecution.

The Center for Investigative Journalism previously reported that Minister Salmir Kaplan received 600 KM per month for accommodation in a city where he owns an apartment. Over a period of almost four years, he received 24,900 KM from the budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on this basis. This is more than a quarter of the amount he paid for a private apartment, purchased in the Sarajevo settlement of Vogosca five years ago.

Kaplan later stated that he was not aware of this money at all, after which he returned a portion to the FBiH budget.

   >> Kaplan was not "aware" that he took 25,000 KM from the budget

However, after the Prosecutor's Office investigated this case, it was determined that Kaplan did not violate the law and will not be held criminally liable.

- The Prosecutor's Office checked the allegations related to alleged irregularities in the payment of funds for separate living and accommodation of the Minister of Culture and Sport in the Government of FBiH, Salmir Kaplan, and determined that the Commission for resolving the status issues of members of the Government of FBiH and their advisors, responsible for the payment of these allowances, acted in accordance with the valid regulations.

Namely, the Law on Salaries and Allowances in the bodies of authority of the Federation of BiH, the Decree on allowances that belong to the members of the Government of FBiH and their advisors which do not have the character of salary, and the Rules of Procedure of the aforementioned Commission, do not require any other proof besides proof of residence for the realization of the right to payment of funds for separate living and accommodation.

Such vagueness and shortcomings of the aforementioned regulations cannot be grounds for criminal prosecution, neither for the members of the Commission who decided on individual requests for the realization of these rights, nor for the applicants - state the Prosecutor's Office, reports Patria.