Perić on the judiciary: Politicians and the international factor control the courts!

(Patria) - The BiH judiciary has been undergoing reform for some time. Or at least that's how it appears and is perceived by the public. In this reform process, there are more and more cases that are considered politicized in the BiH public. Former judge of the BiH Court, Branko Perić, spoke about the state of the BiH judiciary in the show Istraga on Hayat TV.

-I have written books about the chronology of the BiH judiciary. 'Kupleraj koji gori' is one of the books. My colleagues talk about reforms while the judiciary is burning. This has been going on for about ten years. We have all witnessed it. But no one wants to talk about it. All this indicates that it is not a system that can survive. I think it will get worse. When it comes to decay, there is no limit – Perić points out.

Perić points out numerous examples of the judiciary collapsing, citing the examples of Milan Tegeltija and Ranko Debevec. He reminds that the mandate of the Chief Prosecutor was renewed, stating that it is an excellent system of control of the Court by politicians and the international community.

-We witnessed the rule of Milan Tegeltija and the problems that constantly arose. No one managed to solve it, and his mandate was renewed by consensus. They could not solve the problem of a person who discredits the system at every step. A complete unknown came as the Chief Prosecutor. He was involved in various scandals and his mandate was renewed without an opponent. The problem is not with him. What is the problem with extending the mandate of such a Prosecutor!? They agreed that no one else would apply. That is excellent control of the Court by politicians, the international community, and others – says Perić.

Perić wonders how it is possible that harmless cases cannot be resolved quickly and last up to ten years. Because of this, Perić says, the state loses enormous amounts of money, and the HJPC has never solved the accumulated problems in the judiciary.

-Prosecutorial proceedings last 5, 6, 7, even 10 years. How is it possible that they cannot solve this problem. And for cases that are harmless. The BiH Court has never imposed the maximum penalty for a criminal offense. Is it possible for a procedure with a trivial criminal offense to last 9 years, as in the case of Božo Mihajlović. The state loses enormous amounts of money because of this. The HJPC knows this and has never solved it. They are solving the increase in the number of HJPC members, and there are a thousand problems. This means that the influence on the HJPC is increasing – Perić points out.

Perić says that the biggest problem is the influence on the judiciary, and that the HJPC is doing nothing to detect these problems and solve them. He revealed that the former High Representative, Valentin Inzko, called him before leaving to do something about the judiciary.

-The biggest problem is the influence of politics and the international factor. The HJPC has not managed to detect the problems. They are solving something that no one considers a problem. A large number of members means a greater possibility of corruption. Something is happening that cannot solve the problem. The question is whether the president of the HJPC is performing his duty or waiting for someone to tell him what to do.

I saw the draft law, and nothing has been resolved from what we discussed six years ago. Before he left, Inzko called me to resolve some issues by imposing legal solutions, and he said: 'What will Dodik say to that?' The question is whether this will even come into effect. According to international acts, the High Court must elect an independent body, separate from the first-instance court. The structure of the Court is designed to be controlled by the international factor and politicians. They are in daily contact with embassies. All chief prosecutors have had the support of the international community. International friends should let us solve our problems instead of putting judges on a blacklist. And they don't know why they are on that list. If they have any information, they should provide it to our authorities – Perić states.

There has been talk of judicial reform in BiH for a long time. Perić says that what is being done is destruction, not any kind of judicial reform, wondering why the state pays someone a salary when they have been under investigation for two or more years.

-This is not judicial reform but judicial destruction. Responsibility should be sought from those who manage the institution. Why does an investigation last two years!? Why does the state pay someone for two years!? The essence of an investigation is to complete it efficiently. Prosecutors tell me that nothing is being done. Why does the state pay someone who does nothing. Božo Mihajlović is accused of dereliction of duty, which can be investigated in a month – says Perić.

Perić is of the opinion that they wanted to punish him because of some cases in which he had a dissenting opinion. He says that in the Respirators case, there are no elements of a criminal offense and that this is the only case in the world where the government has been convicted for something it did during the pandemic.

-They wanted to punish me just because of my dissenting opinion. I spoiled some of their projects that they wanted to complete through the Court. Respirators and Zijad Mutapčić are politically fabricated indictments. There was no evidence, and we acquitted everyone in the Mutap case. So, an innocent person can be convicted. I think Alisa Mutap is innocent. No evidence suggests she is guilty. In the Respirators case, there are no elements of the offense. This is the only example where the government has been convicted for something it did during the pandemic. No other offer was adequate except the one offered by Hodžić. In my opinion, they are all innocent – Perić emphasizes, adding that it was all in the interest of Konaković, Radončić, and international politics to remove SDA from power.