POSKOK begins operations on April 30: Equipment procurement underway, FBiH Government allocates additional funds

The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued decisions on the assumption of duties by prosecutors and judges in the Special Department of the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for combating corruption, organized and inter-cantonal crime, and the Special Department of the Supreme Court of the FBiH, following the appointment of the head of the Special Department, seven prosecutors, and seven judges. They begin operations on April 30.

The FBiH Government has been paying for space in the former Privredna banka building on Alipašina Street since October 2024. The monthly invoice is 26,000 KM.

Given that the U.S. Embassy, due to the termination of USAID projects, was unable to provide equipment, the Chief Federal Prosecutor Munib Halilović and the President of the Supreme Court Vesna Stanković Ćosović sent a letter to the HJPC in February informing them that one floor of the space for the needs of the Special Department of the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the FBiH had been taken over from the lessor, while space for the Special Department of the court has not yet been secured.

"According to the information available to us, we are waiting for one floor to be vacated for the needs of the Special Department of the Supreme Court of the FBiH, and this can happen earliest around April 20, 2025. The budgets of the Supreme Court of the FBiH and the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the FBiH have secured funds for employee salaries and other material costs for 2025, while funds for furnishing and equipping the premises for the special departments with furniture and material-technical means have not been secured because that obligation was taken over by the U.S. Embassy through donated funds and with the possibility of accelerated equipment procurement procedures," the letter states.

The Supreme Court of the FBiH and the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the FBiH requested the necessary funds from the Federal Ministry of Finance for equipping the premises for the Special Departments and warned that public procurement procedures must be respected.

The FBiH Government at today's session is considering providing a certain portion of funds for the procurement of equipment and material-technical means.

Administrative staff and investigators hired through the competition also begin work on April 30. The Federal Prosecutor's Office issued competitions at the end of February for the positions of typist, courier, and registrar for the needs of the Special Department.

We remind you that Hrvoje Čabrajić was appointed head of POSKOK, and the following were appointed to prosecutor positions: Aida Bešlija, Amra Mehmedić, Samir Selimović, Nina Šahinpašić, Medina Džerahović, Aid Hadžismailović, and Jovo Karić.

The following were appointed as judges: Igor Todorović, Mersudin Pružan, Senad Osmić, Ajla Papović-Mujan, Pavo Radoš, Enisa Adrović, and Željko Rezo.

For now, it is not known when competitions will be announced for two more prosecutor positions and three judge positions.

Given that most of the prosecutors are from the Prosecutor's Office of the Sarajevo Canton, it is expected that the HJPC will soon announce a competition for new prosecutors for the Prosecutor's Office of the Sarajevo Canton.

The Special Department of the FBiH Prosecutor's Office should take over around 300 cases from cantonal prosecutor's offices, for which clear criteria and the severity of criminal offenses have been established.