BIH PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE SLEEPS 'Fugitive' from SIPA Darko Ćulum at RS Police Day Celebration, Ignores Question about Dodik's Arrest

By Amra Vrabac

The still current director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) Darko Ćulum, as he has not been dismissed by the Council of Ministers of BiH even after submitting his resignation, was in Banja Luka today celebrating RS Police Day.

Ćulum is formally or informally engaged as an advisor in the RS Ministry of Internal Affairs, but he no longer comes to SIPA.

Upon arriving at the ceremony at the RS Ministry of Internal Affairs building in Banja Luka, an RTL journalist asked Ćulum if SIPA would arrest Milorad Dodik based on an internal warrant, to which he replied:

"Excuse me, I came for Police Day, so please don't," Ćulum told RTL.

Ćulum requested that the Council of Ministers of BiH dismiss him effective March 19, but this did not happen.

We remind you that on March 2, Ćulum attended a meeting with the leadership of the RS Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was also attended by other representatives of Serb ethnicity from state police and security agencies, as well as Milorad Dodik and Željka Cvijanović. He justified his attendance by claiming he did not know Dodik and Cvijanović would be present.

On March 7, Ćulum ordered employees of the SIPA Regional Office in Banja Luka to leave their workplaces after the unconstitutional laws adopted by the National Assembly of RS, which prohibit the work of the Court, Prosecutor's Office, HJPC, and SIPA in the territory of RS, came into force. He also halted SIPA's activities in RS following the adoption of these laws. However, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH found no elements of a criminal offense in this matter.

After Dodik publicly called on personnel from RS to leave state institutions and move to entity ones, Ćulum responded to that call. Several other employees left SIPA, but there was no mass transfer to the RS Ministry of Internal Affairs.

After failing to respond to the summons of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH for questioning in the case of the attack on the constitutional order, the Court of BiH issued an internal warrant for Dodik, Nenad Stevandić, and Radovan Višković. However, at the same time, RS leaders increased security and protection levels, so they move with fully equipped members of the RS Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Gendarmerie.

Although every police agency has an order to arrest this trio, it has not happened to date, even though the attack on the constitutional order has been ongoing for the second month, causing serious consequences for the state of BiH.

Tourist visits are being canceled, investments are declining, the number of EUFOR members is increasing, sanctions are being imposed on RS leadership, but there are no arrests. Dodik and Stevandić have left BiH and returned across the border without any stops.

If the state is unwilling or unable to deal with a "fugitive" from SIPA, how will it deal with those who are destroying the state? Do the laws of this state then apply only to some citizens and some politicians, and not to all, and not to those from RS?