BiH Court has not yet confirmed the indictment against Dragan Mektić

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH filed an indictment against Dragan Mektić, Igor Golijanin, Samir Agić and Edin Garaplija on December 30, 2019.

However, the Court of BiH has still not confirmed the indictment submitted by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH. Mektić has rejected all allegations of the indictment, calling it fabricated and a form of revenge, because Mektić openly criticized the work of the Prosecutor's Office and Chief Prosecutor Gordana Tadić during his mandate.

The indictment for abuse of office, in addition to Mektić, was also filed against Igor Golijanin, former head of the Cabinet of the Minister in the Ministry of Security of BiH, Samir Agić as assistant minister in the Ministry of Security of BiH, and Edin Garaplija as the responsible person and owner of the Institute for Fire and Explosion Protection - INZA d.o.o. Sarajevo.

After the investigation, which the Prosecutor's Office of BiH conducted following a report submitted by the Federal Police Administration (FUP) of the Federation of BiH, regarding irregularities in the work of responsible persons in the Ministry of Security of BiH, an indictment was filed against four persons who are charged with having committed criminal offenses in complicity, namely:

The accused Dragan Mektić and Samir Agić for the extended criminal offense of abuse of position or authority under Article 220, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of BiH, the accused Igor Golijanin for the extended criminal offense of abuse of position or authority under Article 220, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of BiH, and the accused Edin Garaplija for the extended criminal offense of abuse of position or authority under Article 220, paragraph 3 in conjunction with Article 31 of the Criminal Code of BiH.

According to the indictment, the aforementioned persons committed the criminal offense of high-level corruption through abuse of position and authority, which damages the international reputation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and various instances of abuse of position or authority by the highest state officials and employees in the Ministry of Security of BiH were documented during the implementation of an interstate cross-border cooperation project in the field of firefighting, which was financed by the delegation of the European Union in BiH, with the project value amounting to 198,454.51 euros.

The accused are charged with abuse of position or authority and gross violations of the Law on Public Procurement, the Law on Conflict of Interest in Institutions of BiH, the Law on Ministries and Other Administrative Bodies in BiH, the Law on Civil Service in Institutions of BiH, and internal regulations of the Ministry of Security of BiH during the implementation of the said project, namely the procurement of equipment for firefighting capacities, engagement of human resources, i.e., natural and legal persons, within the project activities, as well as procedures for procuring materials from interested related persons and close relatives, thereby obtaining illegal property gain.

The total damage caused amounts to 244,764.21 BAM.

The Prosecutor's Office will prove the allegations of the indictment by calling 31 witnesses and submitting 140 pieces of material evidence.