Osman Mehmedagić to Lose Access to Classified Information Next Week

(Patria) - Director of the Intelligence-Security Agency (OSA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina Osman Mehmedagić, known as Osmica, will lose his security clearance next week and will no longer have access to classified information, PRESS reports.

The five-year security clearance issued to Osman Mehmedagić will expire on February 18, 2021, and according to the Law on Protection of Classified Information of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it cannot be renewed given that criminal proceedings are underway against Mehmedagić before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina previously informed the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zoran Tegeltija (SNSD), that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina had confirmed the indictment against Mehmedagić, which constitutes a security impediment under the Law on Protection of Classified Information of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In November 2020, Tegeltija notified the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina that Article 57 of the Law on Protection of Classified Information of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been violated, thereby initiating the procedure for revoking the right to access classified information from Director Osman Mehmedagić.

However, to date, the process of revoking the security clearance of the Director of OSA BiH has not been completed, and he continues to access classified information without any consequences. The question rightly arises as to who in the chain of responsibility has failed and how Bosnia and Herzegovina has been brought into a situation where a man with a confirmed indictment for abuse of position and authority has access to state secrets.

The Law on Protection of Classified Information of Bosnia and Herzegovina is clear. Osman Mehmedagić cannot have his security clearance renewed, and any different action, i.e., issuing a security clearance to an accused person, would constitute a serious violation of the Law on Protection of Classified Information of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the criminal offense of abuse of position or authority.

For the record, Mehmedagić, together with Muhamed Pekić, is accused of illegally removing footage from surveillance cameras of the public company BH Pošta, all in order to determine the identity of an anonymous complainant who filed a criminal report against him.

Mehmedagić is also under investigation for falsifying university diplomas, which he declared a state secret. It is suspected that with fake diplomas, he held significant positions in OSA BiH for years and thus illegally received high salaries from the budget of BiH institutions.

A financial investigation conducted by the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) also showed that the allegations from the anonymous criminal report, which Mehmedagić called false and because of which he illegally removed footage from surveillance cameras, are true. Based on the anonymous report, investigators obtained information about the purchase of a house with cash, as well as the purchase of a car from Asim Sarajlić, also with cash. It is currently being checked where Osman Mehmedagić got so much cash and whether the criminal offense of money laundering may have been committed.

Interestingly, the investigation, in addition to the aforementioned facts, confirmed, among other things, allegations that Muhamed Pekić bought an apartment worth 300,000 KM, of which he paid 100,000 KM in cash, that Pekić did not withdraw his salary from his account for a year, and that Osman Mehmedagić employed the son of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bisera Turković (SDA), in OSA BiH, after which Turković began insisting that Mehmedagić be re-elected as Director of OSA BiH.