Is the case of the OSA director's diploma and illegal work of AU in BiH and Prcić being unraveled?

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – For months, three prosecutor's offices (Prosecutor's Office of BiH, Prosecutor's Office of TK and KS) have been working on the case of the American University in BiH, with the prime suspect being Denis Prcić, the owner and founder of that university.

Although during the summer, state prosecutor Oleg Čavka announced the imminent filing of an indictment in this case, which also includes Osman Mehmedagić, the director of OSA, whose diploma from this university is questionable and the subject of an investigation that has been expanded to include several individuals, the indictment is still not forthcoming. As Patria learns, the process of examining the found server has been completed, and an indictment could be filed soon. Mehmedagić declared this diploma a secret document. 

Denis Prcić is suspected of criminal acts of aiding the perpetrator after the commission of a criminal offense, abuse of position or authority, and forgery of official documents, in connection with the issuance of the AU in BiH diploma to Mehmedagić.

Both Prcić and Mehmedagić are under restraining measures.

For Osman Mehmedagić, the director of the Intelligence-Security Agency, restraining measures were imposed in mid-July 2021, which are extended every two months.  

These measures are: a ban on meeting with certain persons under Article 126.a, paragraph 1, point c) of the ZKP BiH, in a way that the suspect Osman Mehmedagić is prohibited from contacting in any way with other suspects Denis Prcić, Melisa Belkić-Mujkanović, Emir Mujkanović, and from contacting witnesses of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina in this criminal case, including approaching them within a distance of 50 meters, and any contact and discussion about the case with any person except defense attorneys.

The suspect Osman Mehmedagić, for the purpose of regularly performing the function he holds, may exceptionally communicate with witnesses of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other persons at a distance of less than 50 meters, but he is prohibited from discussing this case with those persons. He is obliged to inform the acting prosecutor in advance of any such contact.

Patria has confirmed that one report was also submitted to the Federal Prosecutor's Office for further action, but at the end of December, the case was forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office of KS, which is already acting on an earlier report by a group of students against Prcić and AU in BiH.

The AU in BiH case is one of the most complex cases in the judiciary, given that a large number of students have been harmed, and numerous individuals from the security, military, police, and intelligence sectors in BiH are involved, who knew that teaching at AU in BiH was taking place in Sarajevo without a work permit because AU in BiH was never registered in KS.

We remind you that because of this, the Cantonal Administration for Inspection Affairs of Tuzla Canton was prevented from carrying out inspection supervision at the American University in BiH in Tuzla, even though they received several reports and requests.

Although inspectors from the Inspectorate for Education, Science, Culture and Sports attempted to carry out an inspection at the location where the official premises of AU in BiH are located, on several occasions no one was found on site, and no one received written invitations from KUIP TK. The Inspection informed the Ministry of Education and Science of TK about everything.

In March 2021, the Ministry appointed a Commission for supervision of the work of the higher education institution AU in BiH, which includes inspectors and representatives of the Ministry, in order to carry out joint administrative supervision, supervision of the legality of work, and inspection supervision. However, this was not possible either because access to the documentation was not possible.

What was established through checks and according to the statements of the injured students is that certain departments did not even exist at AU in BiH in Tuzla, but teaching took place exclusively in Sarajevo Canton, where AU in BiH never had a work permit. Students who thought they were attending AU in BiH are today without any student status, have lost their right to medical treatment, and have also lost the money they paid for years for their education.

In Sarajevo Canton, the only institution with a work permit was the American School of Economics (ASE) with one licensed program, International Finance. However, in recent years, students were not enrolled in ASE but exclusively in other study programs of AU in BiH that did not even officially exist. Such was the case with the National Security Academy, which was led by Selmo Cikotić, the current Minister of Security of BiH, and numerous members of the Armed Forces of BiH and the Ministry of Security of BiH were engaged as lecturers. 

The American School of Public Administration department, for which AU in BiH issued diplomas, also did not exist in KS or TK, at least not officially, but diplomas exist. The investigation by the State Prosecutor's Office also determined where these diplomas were printed.

Numerous professors who were engaged at AU in BiH now do not want to talk about their engagement and the way teaching was conducted. But this is a clear example of when inspections and competent ministries failed, all accompanied by support from politics and even foreign officials who, knowingly or not, were part of this complicated story.