Troika's double standards: Detained Minister Nešić must be removed, while detained NS Minister Bošnjak is bypassed

State Minister of Security Nenad Nešić is in custody. And that, according to the position of Our Party, NiP and SDP, is a reason for his dismissal.

And the Minister of Communal Economy, Infrastructure, Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Sarajevo Canton Bojan Bošnjak is in custody. Yet, again, the parties of the Troika, as well as the opposition (SDA, DF, SBiH), are not initiating his removal, Istraga.ba reports.

So, two ministers have the same status in criminal proceedings. Both are suspects, both are in custody, and the parties based in Sarajevo want to remove only Nenad Nešić. In the case of the BiH Minister of Security, the principle of presumption of innocence does not apply. In the case of the minister from Our Party – everyone is innocent until finally convicted.

“The SDP BiH Club in the BiH Parliament believes that in developed democracies, in the circumstances in which Minister Nešić finds himself, the logical course of events is resignation as a personal act. If that does not happen, the SDP BiH Club will support the initiative for the dismissal of the Minister of Security, without taking on the role of the judiciary,” SDP state representative Saša Magazinović, known for moralizing about all unimportant things, will announce.

Can you find a similar statement from Saša Magazinović or his party colleagues regarding Minister Bojan Bošnjak? Minister Bošnjak has been in custody for two months. He regularly receives his salary, although it is not known who signs his paycheck. Let us recall how SDP BiH reacted in the Respirators case.

“We call on Bakir Izetbegović and the leadership of SDA to, following the example of SDP, expel Fadil Novalić from the party due to the indictment in the 'Respirators' case,” read the SDP statement signed in December 2020 by Vojin Mijatović and Zukan Helez.

Anyway, all those arrested, suspected or accused must be removed from political life. Unless they come from the Troika parties.

“I think his (Nenad Nešić's) chances of seeing the end of his term are very small,” said Predrag Kojović from Our Party, confirming that he and Sabina Ćudić will vote for the dismissal of the detained Nenad Nešić.

Here is what Our Party recommends in the case of detained Minister Bojan Bošnjak.

“We note that in the past period, the position of Minister Bojan Bošnjak has been grossly jeopardized in public, in a way that certain media have given space and affirmed the views and statements of the party that appears as a witness in the proceedings. We consider such an approach and attitude a conscious editorial choice and a possible strategy to exert pressure on the judiciary through the media, to mislead the public from the start,” stated in an internal memo from Our Party addressed to the media in Sarajevo.

Again, some are “more equal”. So, for Our Party, Nešić must be expelled from the Council of Ministers of BiH, and Bojan Bošnjak must be expelled from newspaper articles and TV reports.

SIPA recorded that the president of NiP, Elmedin Konaković, tried to enter the Government building at the time of Bojan Bošnjak's arrest. Yet, again, Elmedin Konaković claims he has nothing to do with this case, which partly shed light on illegal construction on Bjelašnica. And Konaković's NiP has not initiated the removal of Minister Bošnjak. They signed the initiative for Nešić's removal. The answer to the question – why the Troika parties have double standards – should be sought in the words of cantonal prosecutor Darko Soldat, spoken at the hearing for determining custody for Minister Bošnjak.

“From the evidence we submitted to the Court in a sealed envelope, which contains intercepted communications of Ibro Berilo, a direct and immediate contact is seen on Bojan Bošnjak to, within his competencies, issue a positive opinion on the environmental impact study for the Bjelašnica area, which will legalize the illegal urban planning project of the Trnovo Municipality. From these communications, it is read that the adoption of such a decision by Bojan Bošnjak was influenced by direct contacts with the director of a public utility company, which is, among other things, responsible for construction on Bjelašnica. Also, contacts with two presidents of political parties in BiH who were supposed to influence Bojan Bošnjak in a short time to give a positive opinion at all costs,” said prosecutor Soldat.

Both presidents come from the Troika parties, which have a total of three presidents. And that is why Nešić must go, and Bošnjak – stay.