Police in Goražde Falls Over the Union

By: Ernad Metaj

During March, a verdict is expected on the legality of the dismissal of former police commissioner of BPK Goražde, Adem Laković, about which the OHR and the US Embassy wrote to the Goražde authorities. The concern expressed in that letter proved justified, as the lack of rational explanations only opened additional space for a political settling of scores, in which the reputation of the police as an independent institution was seriously damaged.

According to documents and information obtained by Patria, no one is innocent, and the desire for political influence over the Ministry of Interior cannot be reduced solely to a few individuals compromised by recordings released to the public. Those most responsible remained behind the curtain and the noise of the broadcast audio recordings, but written traces remain that, besides political, indicate professional compromise within the police, which, in my deep conviction, is worse and more dangerous than the first, to which we have somehow become accustomed.

The highest price for such a state of affairs is paid by good police officers and civil servants who find themselves in the way of ambitious „guardians of law and order“ who see no further than their own interest. Thus, police officer Dalibor Vuković, who rebelled and publicly spoke about possible discrimination, was transferred from Ustikolina to Prača, about which Patria wrote. It will be shown that this is not Vuković's only sin; his colleagues wanted him in the union, so they needed to be separated. This is a tried-and-tested recipe according to which those loyal to the police leadership should be in the union. For some of them, various incentives were secured, from promotions, appointments to commissions, and even to supervisory boards of public enterprises, so that their monthly incomes significantly increased. To remove the unsuitable ones who had numerous objections to the Law on Police Officers, which were not taken into account, a rebellion was first staged in the union, then there were „two unions“ under one roof, until the unsuitable ones got tired. Therefore, it is not surprising that many say it is no longer known who is the commissioner, who is the minister, and who is the unionist, nor who is following and recording whom.

After the dismissal of Commissioner Laković, everything culminated in the competitions for ranks and the recruitment of 25 new police officers. Information leaked to the public that there were pre-made lists of children of politicians, Ministry of Interior employees, and civil servants who were supposed to become police officers. Coincidentally or not, the commissions that led both processes mostly consisted of „incentivized“ police officers and unionists. At the mention of the possibility of changing the commissions, a great uproar arose, opening the story of political influence on the police. The poorly informed could be deceived; those who know the situation in Goražde better still remember the earlier competition during which commissions were changed, people from outside were brought in to ensure transparency and impartiality because questions to some candidates „flew through the window“. The president of the commission at that time was the current commissioner, Mirsad Hrapo. Due to his appointment as commissioner of the Ministry of Interior, another court proceeding is expected because the candidate who was better evaluated than Hrapo at that time was Saladin Pleh. Additionally, there is suspicion that Hrapo's work experience was manipulated, as it was assumed that it could disqualify him as a candidate. It could be determined in court whether the presentation of Hrapo's work experience from Croatia was avoided, because a person who will meet the conditions for retirement during the mandate cannot become a commissioner.

The Government of BPK Goražde certainly bears responsibility for these matters, and no one can claim they did not know what was happening in the Ministry of Interior. Only then was the majority in the assembly benches in love, and on the table were numerous positions in public enterprises and institutions waiting to be filled by agreement.

That same majority unanimously and tacitly legalized the pushing of the police commissioner under political control. By amending the Law on Police Officers, the door was opened for civilians in the police to practically have a majority in the police board. In practice, through pressures and manipulations regarding minutes, it was also desired to ensure that the then commissioner in the police board got one of his non-like-minded individuals from the Police Administration. The commissioner's collegium at that time wanted Saladin Pleh in that position, who, like Laković, was obviously unsuitable, which was confirmed first by the dismissal and then by the election of a new commissioner.

Commissioner Laković bothered many because he was never corruptible. His systematization, which he proposed, was changed piecemeal, which was later used for settling scores with all those who did not want to ignore the law according to instructions from outside. Thus, by changing the systematization, due to the sins of her husband, a mother of two children was punished by transfer from Goražde to Ustikolina, and an employee from Prača was brought to her place. Pressures and blackmail in the Ministry of Interior of BPK Goražde were almost daily means of communication, and this had to escalate. We did not want to mention names; that is now a job for the Ministry of Interior, because it is time for them to look each other in the eye and move away from politics, which serves them solely for one-time use. Trust in the police is, after all, much more than trust in politicians. The police should control them, and the only consolation in this specific case is that even in politics, decisions without rational explanation eventually backfire.