New suspicious indictments from the BiH Prosecutor's Office: Before Mektić, there was other business but...

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

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Who is bothered by Dragan Mektić, that an entire apparatus is set in motion for an affair and an indictment against the former BiH Security Minister?  It is not disputed that everyone is responsible for their own actions, but the timing in which the Prosecutor's Office raises indictments calls into question the motive and method of work of the judiciary. 

The investigation lasted almost six months, culminating in the filing of an indictment, which was quite unusually conducted by inspectors for organized crime of the Federal MUP, on the order of the State Prosecutor's Office. 

Not coincidentally, the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) was bypassed, whose inspectors, as unofficially confirmed to Patria, upon the initial attempt to stage the affair, recognized a lack of jurisdiction because it exclusively concerned donated EU money, not budget funds, the spending of which was monitored by the EU Delegation. 

The final report on the use of funds was fully adopted by the EU Delegation as early as mid-2017, after an independent audit gave a positive audit report conducted according to international accounting standards and EU rules.

However, this affair surrounding Dragan Mektić primarily benefits his political opponents, who could be divided into two groups. 

The first group is led by Mijo Krešić, a cadre of the HDZ and Mektić's then-deputy, and today, on the proposal of his party, also the deputy minister of defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Sifet Podžić. 

Krešić, through his cronies within the Ministry of Security, fueled the affair for months and spread distrust and fear among ministry employees, even planting stories about the possibility of arresting Mektić and his associates and how a close friend revealed to him that funds from the coffers were being misappropriated, which is almost impossible because the EU has very strict criteria and monitors the spending of its funds on a monthly basis. 

The question also arises, if Krešić learned of such a possibility of misappropriation, why, as a true professional, did he not report his alleged "friend," but instead knowingly committed criminal acts of concealment, intimidation, and abuse of position. 

Perhaps because he feels untouchable since his close relative Gordana Tadić is the chief prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office. Minister Podžić should be cautious because the intentions of Deputy Krešić, the apprentice of his powerful "pro-Russian" boss Dragan Čović, are questionable.

The second group of Mektić's enemies is that gathered around his sworn enemy Milorad Dodik. This group also includes the (in)experienced Vedrana Mijović, a prosecutor at the BiH Prosecutor's Office, who led the staging of the indictment, along with several of her crony investigators, who, lacking arguments, charged Mektić with procuring larger clothing sizes of uniforms and (non-)firefighting helmets, deliberately ignoring the fact that the equipment was procured exclusively based on written requests from entity civil protection and their firefighting services, which received it without objection and used it in actions to extinguish forest fires in recent years.

In the indictment, Mektić and others are charged with allocating 2,000 KM for printing brochures to a printing house co-founded by the wife of his chief of cabinet, Igor Golijanin.

Upon reviewing the work done, it is evident that when the cost of designing and printing several thousand brochures, which were printed and delivered to entity civil protection services, is deducted, it is more than clear that not only could there have been no embezzlement, but that printing house barely covered its costs.

It seems that the mere fact that the co-founder of that printing house was Golijanin's wife was the only reason this item was included in the indictment. The question arises, if Golijanin's wife is denied the right to earn from EU funds and institutions where her husband is not a responsible and authorized person, then why has this right not been revoked for the son and daughter of prosecutor Mijović's party leader, who have received millions in aid and jobs from the state coffers for years.

And on the other hand, close relatives of the top leadership of the SDA and HDZ have also been dipping into budget funds from public institutions for years, while the "diligent" Prosecutor's Office has never expressed suspicion, let alone filed an indictment.

The intention of this organized group is more than obvious: to take revenge on Dragan Mektić by staging an affair for his "tongue," with which he did not spare the aforementioned actors at numerous press conferences he convened as BiH Security Minister, where he openly criticized the (in)action of the judiciary. This revenge can also be viewed from another angle, destroying the "political" popularity of Dragan Mektić, who has earned the epithet of a "people's politician," equally popular among all three constituent peoples, but also among a good part of the international community. 

With this affair, claiming that Mektić misappropriated EU funds, they want to confront him with the international community and clip his wings with them, branding him a thief.