BLIND TO THE OBVIOUS: Does the Trojka have the courage to demand for SIPA what Dodik demands for the BiH Appellate Court?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Davor Bunoza, Minister of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, guest on N1 television, stated that there are grounds for the Appellate Court to be located in Banja Luka, as demanded by the authorities from Republika Srpska, specifically SNSD and its partners participating in the Council of Ministers…

“Officials from Republika Srpska believe it is good for courts to be physically distant and they have grounds for that. But I believe this should be a political agreement based on expertise,” Bunoza said.

And perhaps expertise should be given the floor, but no one is asking the experts. And, speaking of political agreements, the Trojka, and then the HDZ, could finally resolve the issue concerning the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) through this matter.

This topic has not been mentioned in public for a long time, although a few years ago the idea was topical to build the base of the Special Support Unit at another location, namely in Sarajevo, because SIPA's headquarters are in East Sarajevo.

Otherwise, after the Agency was established in May 2004, its headquarters were in Sarajevo. With amendments to the Law on SIPA in May 2012, SIPA's headquarters were moved to East Sarajevo.
It is interesting that the official SIPA website lists four Regional Offices: Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, and Tuzla, even though there is no facility in Sarajevo (FBiH) used for the needs of the Sarajevo Regional Office. All employees perform their duties at SIPA headquarters in Lukavica (Republika Srpska).

So, the Sarajevo Regional Office is located in the SIPA building in Lukavica!?

Politics has not shown sensitivity to this issue, especially after SNSD cadres have held leading positions in this significant security agency for years.

Unfortunately, it is increasingly certain that the representatives of the Trojka no longer seem to dare to present certain demands to Milorad Dodik, in order to correct long-standing injustices or, perhaps, to show that they are different from those who have held power so far. They are hastily working on whatever laws they can to fulfill Brussels' wishes and, in Čović's words, to resolve issues by November so that we are closer to the EU. And the fact that we are losing the country on that path doesn't worry anyone!?

The policy of compromise continues, in which the Trojka accommodates the demands of the SNSD, which, let's be clear, have nothing to do with the better functioning of BiH institutions.

The goal is to further disempower and render them meaningless, because the experts have had their say. Lawyer Asim Crnalić recently stated that when it comes to the headquarters of the Appellate Court of BiH, he understands RS's position that it should be in the territory of this entity, but not in Banja Luka.

- If it were in Banja Luka, then count on huge costs for accommodation for judges, disruption of their family organization because these are serious judges with careers, then the organization and costs of transporting convicts and witnesses, prosecutors of the BiH Prosecutor's Office would also have to go to Banja Luka.

The RS's demand for a state-level judicial institution to have its headquarters in its territory is justified, as long as it is not far from the Court of BiH, because the functioning of the Appellate Court would be very difficult – emphasizes Crnalić.