OSA BiH explains how Nenad Nešić passed its security checks

(Patria) - The Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina has submitted a response to the Anti-Corruption Commission regarding questions about the appointment process of the (now former) Minister of Security of BiH and the granting of consent to Nenad Nešić to access classified and top-secret data.

Nešić, it should be recalled, is in custody in Vojkovići, writes Faktor. The Anti-Corruption Commission of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH inquired how he passed the appointment to the position of state Minister of Security in 2023, given the fact that investigations in the case against Nešić have been ongoing since 2019.

In its response to this parliamentary commission, OSA first emphasized that they are not responsible for the process of appointing and granting consent to candidates in the Council of Ministers of BiH. They then explained the security checks they conduct, as well as what happened in the specific case, i.e., the case of Nešić.

"In accordance with the Law on Protection of Classified Data, OSA BiH conducts security checks for persons who work or apply for work at a position where classified data is produced in a body dealing with intelligence or defense and security matters.

The head of the body, i.e., institution, submits a request for a security check to OSA with the necessary documentation for its implementation, which then delivers the result of the security check to the head of the body where the person is employed or performs duties.

The head of the body or institution makes a decision on the existence or non-existence of a security impediment, and the state security body issues a permit for access to classified data," state from OSA BiH.

They note that for Nešić, the request for conducting a security check for access to data of the secrecy level "top secret" was submitted to OSA on April 28, 2023, i.e., after his appointment.

"During the conduct of the security check, from judicial, police, security, financial and other institutions, we were not provided with data that constitutes a security impediment for access to classified data in accordance with Article 59 of the Law on Protection of Classified Data, which prescribes the following:

Article 59.

(1) Security impediments, due to which the issuance of a permit for access to classified data is refused, are:

a) proven false statements of data in the verification questionnaire;
b) final court judgments of at least three months of imprisonment;
c) existence of one or more final decisions due to misdemeanors from Article 49, point I) of the Law;
d) conducting proceedings for criminal offenses for which prison sentences of at least three months may be imposed;
e) conducting proceedings before the International Tribunal for war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, i.e., before the competent court in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
f) proven existence of a security impediment related to one or more pieces of information from the security check questionnaire, which establish a reasonable doubt about the authenticity, loyalty to the state and confidentiality of the person for enabling access, use, storage and protection of classified data, and especially the following:

1) unauthorized contact with members of organized criminal groups, terrorist organizations and organizations that financially or otherwise support them, i.e., membership in them;
2) unauthorized contact or cooperation with persons from intelligence-security or military structures of other states;
3) disclosure or commenting on classified information, documents and activities to unauthorized persons, especially to intelligence-security services of other states or public media;
4) excessive indebtedness leading to financial difficulties and representing a proven possibility for blackmail or other forms of pressure on the person being checked;
5) proven inexplicable enrichment from an unknown source or a source connected with organizations from subparagraphs 1) and 2) of point f) of this paragraph;
6) refusal to provide answers or information or proven prevention of others from providing answers or information required by OSABiH, persons responsible for issuing permits or the Commission.

g) existence of other security impediments determined by the Law or international agreements - it is written in the information signed by the General Director of OSA, Almir Džuvo.

Finally, the provision is cited according to which "evidence for security impediments must be collected and presented by OSABiH in cooperation with the relevant bodies...".

The Anti-Corruption Commission first requested information from the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) on how and in what way consent was given in 2023 for Nešić to be appointed Minister of Security of BiH.

Information was requested after Nešić was arrested and placed in custody. In addition to him, Mladen Lučić and Milan Dakić were arrested, and they are charged with committing criminal offenses of association for the purpose of committing criminal acts of money laundering, abuse of official position or authority, and receiving bribes.

After reviewing the information from SIPA, the Anti-Corruption Commission recently decided to also ask OSA about the checks on Nešić.

The Commission will discuss their response at a session scheduled for February 24.