WHAT IS HAPPENING AT SIPA: Four criminal complaints against Đuro Knežević

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – Criminal complaints against Đuro Knežević, Deputy Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), which also include some senior officials, have been sent to the BiH Prosecutor's Office, the OHR Office, senior advisor for combating corruption Eric Larson, the BiH Minister of Security, and several media outlets.

In all complaints, Knežević is accused of several criminal offenses related to corruption, nepotism, undermining the reputation of SIPA, disclosure of official secrets, obstruction of justice, and illegal promotions and rewards.

The signatories of the criminal complaints also state that during the tenure of Director Perica Stanić, Knežević signed about 80% of the documentation, which they are also pointing out to the current director, Darko Ćulum.

One of the complaints concerns illegal promotions and describes how it was known in advance who would be promoted and how Knežević determined it. Discriminated police officers also claim that national representation in SIPA has been disrupted, especially in some regional offices.

“The national structure of SIPA has long ceased to reflect the national structure of the population from 1991, meaning Knežević is discriminatory (it is well known to everyone that P.S. was only a figurehead and spent more time traveling, and Knežević decided everything, consciously violating Article 4 of the Law on the State Investigation and Protection Agency, all to the detriment of one nation and in favor of another. Police officers from the lowest to the highest rank are not represented according to the aforementioned law. The national structure of all organizational units is continuously being formed to the detriment of one nation, especially in the Banja Luka Regional Center and Mostar Regional Center, where they are not represented even by 50% of the number foreseen,” the complaint states.

In the second criminal complaint, Knežević and Ernad Musić from Zenica are reported. The first reported is for the criminal offense of Abuse of Office or Authority under Article 220, Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code of BiH; the second reported is for the criminal offense of Aiding and Abetting in Service under Article 223, Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code of BiH.

“The first reported person, by abusing his position and authority, enables the second reported person, Musić, as a civil servant, to use specialized official vehicles for the private needs of the second reported person during the period from March 2020 to May 29, 2020, specifically for his travel home to Zenica and his return to work in Istočno Sarajevo,” the complaint states, attaching travel orders.

This complaint was submitted to the Agency Director, the Agency's Internal Control, the BiH Prosecutor's Office, OSA, the Parliamentary Commission for Oversight of the Work of Police Structures, the US Embassy, the OHR, and others.

The third criminal complaint concerns the admission of cadets into SIPA, for which Knežević is reported to have abused his official position multiple times between 2014 and 2020, exceeded the limits of his official authority, consciously violating the law and bylaws of the Agency and the Council of Ministers of BiH, in order to illegally favor applicants for admission to the Agency.

“By pressuring members of the commission, by giving them the names of candidates (applicants for admission) who must be admitted after a rigged procedure, even though it was not known whether these candidates would meet the prescribed criteria, i.e., whether they met the general and special criteria, which is contrary to the established Rules of Procedure of the commission, and all this was done with the intention of favoring candidates who do not meet the general or special conditions (because they have a criminal past, are unable to pass exams, or have some health obstacles for admission, etc.), and who, without direct intervention or abuse by the reported person, would not have passed the first round of selection, and in this way, in addition to favoring individuals who do not meet the general and special conditions, continuously harmed other candidates from being selected according to the existing criteria, because Knežević's illegal interventions eliminated them even before the completion of the competition procedure, leaving them no chance to be selected based on their results, thus placing other applicants in an unequal and discriminatory position in the admission processes, thereby abusing his position, turning SIPA into a corrupt organization that does not operate based on the law and other regulations, which ultimately has devastating consequences for the work of the Agency and interpersonal relationships within the Agency, and for himself and others, he gained various types of influence and benefits,” the explanation states.

The complaint also lists several examples of such employments, one of which is the son of Samir Rizvo, Assistant Minister of Security and President of the Police Officers' Appeals Committee.

“Incidentally, S. Rizvo is the president of the Police Officers' Appeals Committee (second-instance body), which makes illegal decisions for Knežević's needs (there are already a number of court rulings where the Court of BiH states that these are illegal decisions of the Committee). Through S. Rizvo, Knežević has thus consolidated his influence in persecuting police officers who resist Knežević's pressure, so as not to be part of his corrupt network,” the complaint reads.

Members of the families of Border Police BiH officials, as well as some other institutions, were also employed.

In the fourth criminal complaint, Knežević is reported for the criminal offense of Abuse of Office or Authority under Article 220, Paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code of BiH.

“During the period from 2016 to 2020, on multiple occasions, he exceeded the limits of his official position and authority, consciously violating the law and bylaws of the Agency and the Council of Ministers of BiH, using budgetary funds allocated to the Agency, which the Agency Director, as well as the Deputy Director, are authorized to spend in accordance with legal and regulatory provisions, for illegal rewarding of police officers loyal to him, thereby consciously creating a parallel network of loyal police officers, ready to make unlawful decisions for his needs, continuing the corrupt chain of illegality, doing so contrary to the Rulebook, i.e., a decision based on work results, thus giving preference to these police officers in future promotion procedures (as the number of rewards is counted in these promotion procedures), thereby abusing budgetary funds in the amount of tens of thousands of KM, creating such a continuously formed parallel structure loyal to him within the Agency, while acting discriminatorily towards other police officers, turning SIPA into a corrupt organization that does not operate based on the law and other regulations, so Knežević's actions are unconstitutional and contrary to several human rights conventions, thereby causing irreparable damage to the lawful functioning of the Agency, and thus consciously abusing his official position to obtain benefits for others that do not belong to them, thereby creating a number of loyal police officers for himself, and by discrimination and unequal treatment, putting others in a more unfavorable position in promotion procedures, which ultimately has devastating consequences for the work of the Agency,” the complaint states.