Scandal in the FUP: Instead of investigating allegations, Minister Čampara attacks the media!

The list of 15 candidates for employment in the Special Police Unit of the FUP, unilaterally compiled by Director Dragan Lukač bypassing the Commission's list that evaluated the candidates, has yet to receive its final epilogue. The Police Board is considering candidate appeals, with a deadline of August 18, when it will be known whether the appeals will be accepted, the competition annulled, or Lukač's list will ultimately pass.

For days, media editorial offices including Dnevni avaz, Klix, Source, Slobodna Bosna, and Patria have been receiving letters from aggrieved candidates and their close associates, who only sought compliance with the law and the Constitution of the FBiH and BiH, and warned of irregularities in the candidate recruitment process.

We remind you that Lukač removed four Bosniaks from the list—Hamdo Maličević, Edvin Smaka, Nadir Čengić, and Halil Ćelović—and replaced them with Dario Rajić (48th on the Commission's list), Andrej Laco (42nd), Ivan Vidošević (27th), and Murat Repeša (18th), who declared themselves as Croats and Others.

One such letter, signed by an aggrieved candidate, was sent to media addresses, as well as to FUP Director Dragan Lukač and Minister of Interior Aljoša Čampara. The letter was also addressed to BiH Security Minister Dragan Mektić, the President and Vice President of the FBiH Marinko Čavara and Milan Dunović, the FMUP Professional Standards Unit, SIPA, and the OHR.

Director Lukač responded only with a denial to Dnevni avaz's article on July 31, claiming he acted lawfully, but also that the FUP is not a "social work center," without further elaboration. On the other hand, he is obliged to clarify whether the FUP needs the most capable personnel or has become a center for nepotism and recruitment based on ethnicity.

Minister Čampara did not comment, but today, through one of his media outlets, the SDA-affiliated portal "Slobodna Bosna," he attacked Fahrudin Radončić and Bakir Alispahić, accusing them of launching a media campaign. Thus, instead of responding to the serious allegations he himself received in a candidate's letter and the involvement of his advisor Branislav Crnogorac in the recruitment of candidates for the FUP Special Unit, Čampara used this scandal to settle scores with individuals unrelated to the affair. He even goes so far as to announce the arrest of those mentioned! Is Minister Čampara signaling that we live in a police state?

It would have been better for Čampara to have reacted ex officio, verified the truth of the stated allegations, and involved investigative bodies to examine the irregularities in the recruitment of candidates for this police agency.

Incidentally, from the letter sent to numerous addresses, the Patria agency did not even publish all the allegations, but we call on Minister Čampara to do so, even if only to deny all these claims. Let him say it is not true that a candidate was accepted who is 35 years old and well-known to the Sarajevo police, a candidate who associates with drug dealers, known as a "tough guy of Sarajevo" under the guise of an athlete, as well as several other candidates coached by Branislav Crnogorac.

Likewise, both Lukač and Čampara are aware that there is no Independent Board to oversee the work of retiree Lukač, but in this case, public oversight has kicked in. The question is whether the OHR has reacted in this case and whether this provoked the anger of the minister-media advisor.

Let Čampara also answer why there is no Public Complaints Office, an instance that should protect police officers from Lukač's torture, disciplinary proceedings, internal control, etc. That Office's mandate has also expired. That Office falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Interior.

Should Minister Čampara be reminded that the same scenario occurred in the previous competition, which was annulled?

And if he hasn't read the letter, the Patria agency publishes it today:

Letter sent to editorial offices and institutions

And if Minister Čampara does not know which candidates were removed from the list, we will remind him:

Halil Ćelović was one of the best soldiers of the BiH Armed Forces in 2010, and later an instructor.

Hamdo Maličević, a long-time athlete and winner of multiple gold and other medals in karate. A 25-year-old young man who could have given his best years to the police.

Nadir Čengić (23), one of the physically fittest young men in the testing. He graduated from the police academy in Turkey (4 years) and speaks three languages fluently.

Edvin Smaka, a young man of 2 meters and 110 kg. He scored 69 points, but instead of him, Andrej Laco, 175 cm tall with 52 points, got the position. He was 42nd on the Commission's list.