Terzić: No one has the right to question the independence of the judiciary

There is increasing talk in Bosnia and Herzegovina about the work of the judiciary, and especially about the need for an independent judiciary free from political pressure, which is the main topic of the Structural Dialogue on the Judiciary, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

Statements by SDA leader Bakir Izetbegović and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Denis Zvizdić about fabrications in the Lutka 2 case, in which two people were arrested, surprised political analysts who say that such statements lack even a shred of statesmanship.

On the other hand, Fahrudin Radončić, president of SBB, whose party cadres were arrested and are accused of influencing witnesses in the process against Naser Keljmendi in Kosovo, emphasized that "as a responsible politician, I can tell citizens that I have confidence in the judiciary."

Almir Terzić, a political analyst, told Patria that no one has the right to question the independence of the judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because any other behavior can be interpreted as direct pressure on their work.

- At the same time, a system must be introduced in BiH whereby prosecutors and judges will also be held accountable for their actions within their profession, but for that, there is a competent body, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH, which oversees their work. So far, we have had situations where officials holding very significant positions were arrested and detained, including Mladen Ivanić and Dragan Čović. They proved their innocence with legal, not political, statements – Terzić points out.

Furthermore, Terzić warns that Bosnia and Herzegovina will struggle to respond to Chapters 23 and 24 if it does not establish an effective mechanism for fighting crime and corruption, and that there are no untouchables, while judges and prosecutors are fully responsible for the activities they carry out.

- The Council of Ministers of BiH promised us that their main activities would be ensuring the rule of law. I fear that it has been lacking in BiH for too long, because otherwise, numerous officials would be held accountable, if nothing else, for not implementing and respecting the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH made years ago, and we have an example from 2011 related to the Statute of the City of Mostar, as well as the Constitutional Court of FBiH, which declared the ministries of science and education and culture and sports of FBiH unconstitutional – Terzić points out.

Also, this political analyst notes, one should not forget the numerous criminal activities within political parties that the Audit Service of the Central Election Commission of BiH has been pointing out for years, as well as the reports of the Audit Office of BiH Institutions regarding the annual reports on the operations of BiH institutions, whose criminal activities are nullified by the adoption of the reports in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH.