Even in meeting quotas, prosecutors failed to "cram in" indictment for Sarajevo siege

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

The month of December has held special symbolism for the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina for years. It is a period when arrests are made, indictments are "filed", spectacular actions are announced, and when, at least on paper, an impression of intensive work is created. However, behind this apparent efficiency lies not a determined fight for justice, but a much more mundane motive: simply meeting the annual quota.

The numbers clearly show this. By December 25th of this year, the BiH Prosecutor's Office had filed only two indictments for war crimes. Then, in the last five days of the year, indictments began to "pour in". This sudden surge in judicial activity does not speak of a strategic approach to prosecuting the most serious crimes, but of an institution that has been functioning as an end in itself for years.

A particularly devastating fact is that among these indictments, there is none related to the siege of Sarajevo – the longest siege of a capital city in modern European history. There are no indictments for the systematic shelling of civilians, for sniper terror, for crimes that lasted for almost four years before the eyes of the world. This silence from the BiH Prosecutor's Office is not accidental; it is a continuity.

If we talk about high-level corruption, organized crime, and politically sensitive cases, then we enter a zone of complete emptiness. Such cases have been a distant thought for the BiH Prosecutor's Office for years. And while the public is occasionally served smaller cases or proceedings that do not touch the centers of power, the key players remain untouched. They last shone brightly on the wings of the indictment in the 'Respirators' case, which, as it turned out, was not legal but political, and too poorly represented with numerous omissions.

This pattern of behavior sends a clear message: justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina does not function as a principle, but as a seasonal obligation. Instead of being a pillar of the rule of law, the BiH Prosecutor's Office has become an institution that reacts when it has to, as much as it has to, and in the most politically painless way.

December's "efficiency" cannot hide years of absence of real accountability. And as long as there are no indictments for the siege of Sarajevo, as long as there are no serious proceedings for high-level corruption and war crimes at the highest levels, every statistic and every press conference remains just a smokescreen.

Because justice that comes by quota is not justice. It is an administrative act, to which we have too easily agreed.