Six Employees of the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina Attended Nešić's Celebration After Release from Custody: Will Bošnjak React?

(Patria) - Former Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nenad Nešić, after spending nearly five months in custody, organized a celebration in East Sarajevo on May 21, which was also attended by some employees of the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Sources from Patria who saw footage from the celebration recognized several employees of this Ministry, even though Nešić and others are suspected of criminal offenses including organized crime, money laundering, abuse of official position, and accepting bribes.

The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina suspects Nešić of accepting bribes while he was director of the public company Putevi RS, specifically part of the money from awarded road maintenance tenders. Prosecutor Bojana Jolović, at the first hearing to determine custody for Nešić and others in late December 2024, expressed suspicion that Nešić collected one million convertible marks from bribes alone.

Nešić was arrested in late December, and in January he submitted his resignation from the position of Minister of Security, after which the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto, relieved him of his duties. Since then, the position has been vacant, and the Ministry is managed by Deputy Minister Ivica Bošnjak (HDZ BiH).

But let us return to the employees of the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina who were at Nešić's party. The footage shows employees O.Z., Lj.K., B.M., M.M., S.R., and Z.J.

Most of these employees hold important positions in the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and all were either hired or promoted by Nešić while he was Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Given that several of them, due to the functions they perform, also have access to classified information, including at the top-secret level, the question arises whether, after attending Nešić's celebration where “tough guys” arrested for crimes such as drug trafficking were also present, they can remain in their positions at the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or whether Deputy Minister Ivica Bošnjak will take certain steps, suspend them, and seek revocation of their access to classified information.

Two of those present at this celebration have been reported to the Joint Commission for Oversight of the OSA's Work for abuses, as they conducted illegal surveillance in the State Security Authority – Sector for Protection of Classified Information. The report was submitted by the Secretary of the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bakir Dautbašić, who was reinstated to his position only after Bošnjak took over the Ministry, while Nešić did not act on the final court ruling.

Incidentally, during Nenad Nešić's tenure, the ethnic structure of employees in the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina changed significantly. Thus, out of 192 employees, 82 are Serbs, 75 are Bosniaks, 30 are Croats, and 5 are from the category of Others.

Of the 39 employees hired by the Ministry of Security from January 1, 2023, to December 20, 2024, during Nenad Nešić's tenure, 34 are Serbs, three are Bosniaks, and one is a Croat. One person was hired on a fixed-term basis, also from the Serbian people, and 44 people were engaged under service contracts, but the Ministry does not keep records of ethnic affiliation. However, given that they were hired during Nešić's time, it is not difficult to guess who had the advantage.

Nešić promoted numerous officials from the Serbian people who remain in positions today, even though this disrupted the ethnic balance.

Although a request has been submitted by five delegates of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina to discuss violations of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and laws, and the ethnic imbalance in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Speaker of the House, Denis Zvizdić, has not yet scheduled an urgent session. In the meantime, he scheduled an urgent session at the request of another five representatives, including himself, which will be held on May 28.