Independent Board Reviews Received Applications for SIPA Director

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Independent Board of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina will hold a session today starting at 5 PM to open the received applications for the director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA). The agenda includes Information on the visit of Independent Board members to the State Investigation and Protection Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to unofficial information, five applications have been received, but the names are still being speculated. The current SIPA director Perica Stanić has also submitted an application, as well as the dismissed director of this police agency, Goran Zubac. Zubac was convicted in March 2015 for negligent work in service because during the protests in Sarajevo on February 7, 2014, he refused to send the Special Unit as assistance to other police agencies. That day, the building of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Government of the Sarajevo Canton, and the Centar Municipality were set on fire. The Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina rejected Zubac's appeal and on July 16, 2015, confirmed the verdict sentencing him to a suspended sentence, i.e., one year in prison if he commits a new criminal offense within two years. In the summer of this year, the conviction was expunged from Zubac's criminal record. 

Darko Ćulum, director of the Republika Srpska Police, also submitted an application. After the Independent Board reviews the received applications and checks whether the documentation is in order, the final list of candidates will be known. The members of the Independent Board of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina are: Chairperson Tatjana Klječanin Martić, First Deputy Chairperson Enes Obralija, Second Deputy Chairperson Mato Jozić, members Adisa Begić, Nikola Džambas, Ljubomir Kuravica, Ilma Mehić-Jusufbašić, Mate Miletić, Vladimir Jurišić.

After the procedure, the Independent Board of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina will forward the list of the most successful candidates to the Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who proposes one name to the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the appointment is made. Perica Stanić's mandate expires at the beginning of November.