Bogićević's fraud in focus of prosecutor, can the investigation into Karić's election stop new manipulations in mayoral elections

(Patria) - The election of the Mayor of Sarajevo is always a big political battle, and the manipulations and story surrounding the election of Benjamin Karić, the current Mayor of Sarajevo, when Bogić Bogićević was grossly outmaneuvered, has come into the prosecutor's focus.

Many believe that the outcome of this investigation, or rather the final decision of prosecutor Dragoslav Gluhović, will also determine the election of the new mayor, as they will not dare to engage in such machinations and political deceptions as was the case in Benjamin Karić's election.

Gluhović has launched an investigation into the allegations from the criminal complaint against Irfan Čengić, Danijela Šahat, Adi Škaljić, and Vedad Deljković regarding the process of electing Bogić Bogićević as the Mayor of Sarajevo.

And precisely one of the accused, Vedad Deljković, has a significant role in the election of the mayor this year.

Otherwise, the report was filed due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that the accused, "as an organized group, named as a team, namely the Commission for Conducting the Election for the Election of the Leadership of the City Council of the City of Sarajevo, annulled the first vote at the City Council session on 18.03.2021, declaring valid ballots invalid, about which Irfan Čengić testified live on FACE television."

The report also states that Čengić said on the show that the Commission, in which they had a majority, declared ballots invalid that were valid according to the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but that they did so in order to repeat the vote, which they considered to be manipulated.

"Yes, we ordered them to annul the ballots that were valid," Čengić said at the time.
With this statement, the report states, Čengić incriminated an entire group of people who participated in the fraud, abuse, and false informing of the City Council about the process of electing the leadership of the City Council.

Precisely because of this, the Prosecutor's Office acted according to its legal obligations and sent a Request for Submission of Documentation to the City Council of the City of Sarajevo, namely: the Rules of Procedure of the City Council of the City of Sarajevo that were valid in the period 2020-2021, the Minutes of the City Council session of 24.03.2021, the Minutes of the City Council session of 18.03. of the same year, the Statute of the City that was valid in the period 2020-2021, the Decisions on the appointment of members of the Election and Appointment Commission for the period 2020-2021, and the Ballots for the election of the leadership of the City Council of the City of Sarajevo for the period 2020-2021.



We remind you that after these ordeals, Bogić Bogićević withdrew his candidacy for the Mayor of Sarajevo. He did so in a letter addressed to Nermin Nikšić, the leader of the SDP.

"I am informing you of my irrevocable decision to withdraw my candidacy for the Mayor of Sarajevo. It has obviously become a stumbling block in the coalition relations of the 'Četvorka' (The Four), which showed evident disunity on this occasion at today's session of the Sarajevo City Council. This disunity is a kind of message that, within the 'Četvorka', I am not a desired candidate for the aforementioned responsible position.

I do not want your inter-party relations to be harmed because of me, nor do I want my name to be used in inappropriate political and electoral games, which today's session of the Sarajevo City Council resembled," Bogićević stated in the letter at the time.

(A.Č.Z.)