Audit Report: Halilovićs Founded a New Foundation and After Two Months Fišo Gave Them 205,000 KM

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Ministry of Veterans' Affairs of the Sarajevo Canton, headed by Minister Muharem Fišo (BPS), received a qualified opinion after the financial audit for 2017, and the Office for Audit of Institutions of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina states in its report that the allocation of current transfer funds was in some cases carried out without clearly defined and measurable criteria.

Thus, it is stated that the Foundation for the Preservation of Historical Heritage Pravda, whose founder is Semir Halilović, a BPS representative in the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, was allocated 205,000 KM in three tranches. The first of 100,000 KM, the second by a decision of 14.07.2018 for 85,000 KM, and the third by a decision of 13.11.2017 for an additional 20,000 KM. Auditors determined that the Foundation was established only two months before the public call for financing/co-financing projects providing legal and other assistance in favor of suspects and accused former members of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in war crimes cases until the final verdict for 2017.

- The call defined general and specific criteria „evaluation of the significance and quality of the offered project“. We cannot confirm that the mentioned criterion is measurable, and as such, it could not be objectively evaluated. Applications were submitted by two foundations. The Foundation for the Preservation of Historical Heritage „Pravda“, established two months before the publication of the public call (11.01.2017), submitted applications for two projects, while the other foundation, the Foundation for Providing Legal Assistance to Members of the Veteran Population – Sarajevo, submitted an application for one project. Upon the proposal of the commission for conducting the said public call, only one project of the „Pravda“ foundation was supported, and this foundation was allocated funds in the amount of 100,000 KM. For the second project, the commission stated that it was not sufficiently and adequately explained, „especially considering that the Foundation was only registered at the beginning of the current year and that the spatial and human resources necessary for the implementation of such a project are questionable..“.

Part of the Report (Photo: NAP)

Furthermore, auditors state that data on beneficiaries should be available to the public because these are public funds.

- Given that these are public funds, for which one of the basic principles of spending is full transparency, we cannot agree with, nor accept, that data on the beneficiaries of these funds, for the protection of their personal data, are not available to the public, especially considering the character and purpose of these funds, as well as the sensitivity of this matter and category of beneficiaries.

The Ministry, by a special decision of 28.03.2017, without a public call, approved and allocated 15,000 KM to the Foundation for the Protection of Historical Facts „Pravednost“ Sarajevo, which was also founded by Semir Halilović and other members of the Halilović family, for the purpose of providing assistance to defendants and their families related to a newly opened court proceeding.

The Foundation Pravednost was established in September 2013, and only two months later, it received 200,000 KM from the Ministry of Veterans' Affairs, which was then headed by Faid Hećo (BPS). The Foundation Pravednost received a total of over one million marks from the Sarajevo Canton Budget in the following years. The Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office has opened a case and is investigating the allocation of budget money to this foundation. The investigation could be extended to the Pravda Foundation as well.