Hearing for Debevec and Mehmedagić's Detention: Prosecutor Jolović Complains of Obstruction in Investigation and Evidence Gathering

(Patria) - A hearing to determine detention for the President of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ranko Debevec, and the former director of the Intelligence-Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Osman Mehmedagić, is underway at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the very beginning of the hearing, the defense requested that the public be banned from attending the hearing, which was rejected. The decision on detention will be known within 24 hours.

Also, at the beginning, there was a request from the defense to recuse judge Branko Perić, who explained that this issue could not be resolved. Namely, there was no one to decide on it, given that there is no President of the Court of BiH, and the issue remained pending until the HJPC makes a final decision on the acting president of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, N1 reports.

Prosecutor Bojana Jolović then proceeded to explain the motion for detention.

Jolović stated that there was an agreement between the suspects and that she had not encountered greater obstruction in collecting evidence in her career.

She explained that checks had been carried out for several months and cited the example of a witness, an OSA employee, whom she had called to testify several times. However, each time before that, he would receive a call from Osman Mehmedagić.

In one of the calls, Mehmedagić told him that "Ranko called, he got scared because he knows the judge is questioning." This call to the witness occurred when the prosecutor requested certain documentation from the Court, and she cited the case as an example of the interconnectedness of the suspects, as well as their influence on witnesses.

Mehmedagić also told one of the witnesses in a call, "What are you going to do at Jolović's, be smart, say that everything is according to procedure".

Jolović claims that there is also a file where Debevec tells one of the police officers, "I will get out of this, and you see what you will do," and that he resisted arrest.

Debevec protested several times, claiming that falsehoods were being presented, after which Perić threatened to expel him from the courtroom.

Debevec and Mehmedagić were arrested on Monday, December 18. They are suspected of abuse of position, specifically illegal wiretapping of judges in preliminary proceedings and employees of the BiH Prosecutor's Office during several months in 2020.

Attorney Tatjana Savić, who represents Debevec, contested the reasonable suspicion, as it does not arise from the elements of the criminal offense. The prosecutor stated that they acted according to a prior agreement, but this is not evident from the explanation, said the attorney.

"It is undisputed that Debevec had the authority to issue orders for intercepted actions. According to what the Prosecutor's Office claims, all conditions are met. It is stated that one judge is compromised, that he solicited a bribe. It is not known which judge it is, the order refers to official phones," says Savić.

Speaking about the claim that Debevec concealed these orders, she says that the Prosecutor's Office is obliged to provide evidence that these orders were destroyed or concealed and that Debevec did it. It is in his interest, as she explained at the hearing, for these orders to be found.

Savić believes that the purpose of conducting the proceedings can be achieved by prohibiting contact with certain persons.

Debevec also addressed the Court, stating that he fully denies the Prosecutor's Office's allegations, especially those related to the existence of a prior agreement between him and Mehmedagić. He denied knowing the witness the prosecution spoke about.

"Three years have passed, I don't remember. I probably approved it because it was a BiH security assessment. I am no longer the President of the Court, my apartment has been searched, official premises, witnesses have been questioned, computers seized. How can I influence a witness when I am banned from entering the Court?" stated Debevec.

When asked by judge Branko Perić how the files disappeared, Debevec said that it was a matter for the trial and that he could not provide an explanation. He added that he does not verify OSA's findings, nor does he receive reports, and that he was not obliged to keep all the orders he issued.

Nermin Mulalić, who represents Mehmedagić, believes that the prosecutor did not offer concrete evidence that there was an agreement between the suspects, nor that his client acted contrary to laws and regulations. What currently exists as evidence, as Mulalić said at the hearing, does not represent a sufficient degree of reasonable suspicion.

"There is no evidence that he abused his official authority. It is unclear how Mehmedagić committed the criminal offense. There is no possibility that he can influence any witness who is an OSA employee," said Mulalić, who also was of the opinion that the objective can be achieved through prohibition measures and that the integrity of the proceedings cannot be called into question, Detektor reports.