Special Public Prosecutor's Office of RS confirms: Forensic examination of the recording in the "papak" affair was not even conducted!

The Special Public Prosecutor's Office of RS informed Transparency International BiH that they did not conduct a forensic examination of the recording in which the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska allegedly buys MPs to form a ruling majority, reports the Patria News Agency.  

At the same time, an argument was given according to which the forensic examination cannot be carried out because the original recording was returned to the Klix.ba portal by a decision of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo.

As a reminder, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS stated in a press release on November 18 that "a manipulated, compromising recording of a private conversation of the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, recorded with special technical, sophisticated audio and video recording equipment, was published in a number of electronic media, in which individual statements of the Prime Minister were taken out of context and then edited with other statements, thus creating a derived, apparent real conversation between the Prime Minister and an unknown person - the interlocutor."

TI BiH questions how the MUP RS could have qualified the controversial recording as manipulated back in November last year if the Special Public Prosecutor's Office of RS confirmed that a forensic examination of the recording was not conducted at all.

Since the affair of the alleged purchase of MPs was opened, investigative bodies have not only failed to determine the authenticity of the recording, but according to information available to TI BiH, they have not undertaken other investigative actions that could clarify the controversial situation. Thus, in the response of the District Public Prosecutor's Office Banja Luka, it was stated that the same case, following a report by Dragan Čavić, was only forwarded to the Special Public Prosecutor's Office of RS, which, in its response, explains that the investigation has been reduced to determining the authenticity of the recording.

TI BiH believes that the Special Public Prosecutor's Office cannot stop the investigation based on the explanation of not possessing the original recording, indirectly accusing journalists who defended media freedom and the right to protect sources, and that it is necessary to conduct other investigative actions to finally determine whether a criminal offense has been committed and who all the responsible persons are. It is important to note that this is an affair on which the legitimacy of the current government in Republika Srpska directly depends, as the cabinet of Prime Minister Cvijanović is facing extremely serious accusations according to which the current government was formed by bribery.

It is in the interest of the public of Republika Srpska, as well as all its institutions, that the investigation of the Special Public Prosecutor's Office continue in full scope, and that all findings of the investigation be made accessible and public, as it is a sensitive case that attracts particular attention, as the assessment of the lawful establishment of the ruling majority depends on its outcome, TI BiH announced.