Investigation launched against prosecutor Čavka, UDT requests suspension

The Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor of BiH (UDT) has requested the temporary suspension of Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office Oleg Čavka after the BiH Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation against Čavka for the criminal offense of abuse of position and authority, and the criminal offense of accepting a bribe and other benefits, of which the UDT has been informed, writes Patria.

Žurnal reported that Čavka is suspected of abusing his position while performing his prosecutorial duties within the Joker case (operation 2014), when he obtained a reduced prison sentence for the accused in that case, Zoran Popović, through plea bargains.

According to information from the investigation, Čavka was promised a reward for such actions, and therefore it is suspected that the criminal offense of accepting a bribe and other benefits was committed. Zoran Popović was accused of organized crime related to the unauthorized trade of tobacco, and after being arrested in the Joker operation, he contacted the prosecutor in charge, Čavka, at the suggestion of state prosecutor Milorad Barašin.

Officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska also assisted in establishing contact with Čavka, and they testified in the BiH Prosecutor's Office about the suspicious contacts between the prosecutor and the accused in this case. After Popović, according to Žurnal's findings, established contact with Čavka, the state prosecutor proposed a plea bargain for Popović to be sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 50,000 KM.

When the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of BiH refused to approve Čavka's plea bargain, the prosecutor in charge proposed to the accused that he plead guilty, which Popović did. After the proceedings were separated, Čavka again proposed the same sentence in his closing remarks, which the Office of the Chief Prosecutor had previously refused to approve. Thanks to the actions of the prosecutor in charge, Popović managed to keep all the assets suspected of originating from criminal offenses.

After this case, Popović returned to his original tobacco trade business, for which he was recently arrested again in Banja Luka. By tracking his phone, investigators gathered information that he intended to give a bribe to prosecutor Čavka in Breza, thanks to whom he received a minimal sentence in the first proceeding.

This is the second investigation against Čavka. We remind you that he was previously suspected of unauthorized taking of items from cases he was handling, including expensive mobile phones. Despite the proposal from the Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor, the HJPC never suspended Oleg Čavka.

Čavka has been with the BiH Prosecutor's Office since March 2010.