Six POSKOK prosecutors working on 400 cases taken over from ten cantonal prosecutor's offices

(Patria) - The Special Department of the Federal Prosecutor's Office (POSKOK) has taken over 400 cases from ten cantonal prosecutor's offices.

Head of POSKOK Hrvoje Čabrajić said in the show "Istraga sedmice" that the cases have been assigned to six prosecutors, given that one female prosecutor has not yet passed the integrity department's checks.

He confirmed that POSKOK is also handling a case against cantonal prosecutor Jasminka Knežević.
Knežević's badge and mobile phone were confiscated after a search, and she has been suspended from her duties as a prosecutor at the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office. She is suspected of leaking information from cases and investigations.

This Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office has been significantly weakened in terms of staff after the departure of eight prosecutors, and they were already short of six prosecutors. With Knežević's suspension, the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office is short of as many as 15 prosecutors.

In April, Chief Cantonal Prosecutor Meliha Dugalija confirmed to Patria that the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office currently has 67,777 cases in various stages of processing against known and unknown perpetrators of criminal offenses.

Following the appointment of these prosecutors to the Special Department, Dugalija sent a letter to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC BiH), informing them of the new situation, as the HJPC BiH announces competitions for the recruitment of new prosecutors.

“I stated that the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office is losing judicial office holders, which could affect its work and efficiency, and requested the priority announcement of competitions and thus the strengthening of the staff structure. We are also persistent in our activities regarding filling staff capacities for the administration of this prosecutor's office and expect to receive the necessary approvals from the KS Government to initiate competition procedures for administrative staff, for whom there is a chronic deficit, as soon as possible,” Dugalija emphasized.