Independent Board to Open Applications on Monday, Stanić, Zubac, Ćulum Want to Lead SIPA

SARAJevo, (Patria) – The Independent Board of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH will hold a session on Monday, September 23rd, at 5 PM, to open the submitted applications for the director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA).

According to unofficial information, five applications have been received, but the names are still being speculated. The current director of SIPA, Perica Stanić, has also submitted an application, as has the dismissed director of that police agency, Goran Zubac. Zubac was convicted in March 2015 for dereliction of duty because he refused to send the Special Unit to assist other police agencies during the protests in Sarajevo on February 7, 2014. On that day, the buildings of the BiH Presidency, the KS Government, and the Centar Municipality were set on fire. The Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH rejected Zubac's appeal and on July 16, 2015, confirmed the verdict sentencing him to a conditional prison term of one year, meaning he would serve the sentence if he committed 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 RS Police, has also submitted an application, but all names and whether they meet the competition requirements after reviewing the documentation will be known on Monday.

Zubac's application has raised questions about the responsibility of the members of the Independent Board of the PA BiH who will conduct the prescribed procedure with the candidates. The members of the NO PA BiH are: president Tatjana Klječanin Martić, first deputy president Enes Obralija, second deputy Mato Jozić, members Adisa Begić, Nikola Džambas, Ljubomir Kuravica, Ilma Mehić-Jusufbašić, Mate Miletić, Vladimir Jurišić.

After completing the procedure, the NO PA BiH will forward the list of the most successful candidates to the Minister of Security of BiH, who will propose one name to the Council of Ministers of BiH for appointment. Perica Stanić's mandate expires at the beginning of November.