KS Prosecutor's Office Collecting Documentation in Boris Trapara Case: How Did the Our Party Cadre Get the Director Position?

By Amra Vrabac

At least three out of the six certificates submitted by Boris Trapara when applying for the position of Director of the Cantonal Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage Sarajevo, which he used to prove five years of work experience (as required by the competition), are subject to verification and investigation by two prosecutor's offices in Sarajevo and East Sarajevo.

The KS Prosecutor's Office received additional documentation several months ago related to the established case concerning Boris Trapara, specifically regarding the disputed work experience certificates based on which he was appointed Director of the Institute. He submitted as many as six different certificates in the 2021 competition. However, it turned out that at least three are disputed on multiple grounds.

In addition to the checks carried out by the KS Prosecutor's Office, the District Public Prosecutor's Office East Sarajevo has also opened a case, given that Trapara submitted a work experience certificate from the company Marvel, which is headquartered in East Sarajevo.

“The prosecutor in charge is actively collecting relevant documentation from several institutions in the mentioned case. After it is submitted, analyzed, and reported on, further actions in the case will be determined,” states the response from the KS Prosecutor's Office to Patria's inquiry.
As we previously reported, the additional documentation submitted to the KS Prosecutor's Office also relates to a work experience certificate from Burch University.

That certificate stated that Trapara was employed at International Burch University as a lecturer in the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, and that by performing teaching duties, Trapara gained one year of work experience. However, he was engaged as a demonstrator-teaching assistant in 2015.

An inspection was carried out at Burch University, and it was determined that no employment or volunteer contract was concluded for this engagement. According to the Labor Law and the Law on Volunteering, the engagement of a person without a concluded employment or volunteer contract cannot constitute work experience.

Furthermore, Boris Trapara is not listed in the employee records of this university. Given that the certificate he submitted states he held the position of "lecturer," he should have been listed in the employer's records.

Documentation regarding a third certificate submitted by Trapara, from the Association National Committee Icomos in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has also been provided to the KS Prosecutor's Office.

Through an inspection, it was determined that the Association does not apply the provisions of the Labor Law, it is not treated as an employer, nor does it employ workers in the sense of the Labor Law, so it is unclear how he could have been issued a "work experience" certificate.

Trapara's biography, which was published on the website of the Association of Architects in BiH, stated that he is a "member of the Association of Architects in BiH, NK ICOMOS in BiH".
The certificate from ICOMOS was issued on 06.10.2021. The president of ICOMOS is Elša Turkušić-Jurić, who is also a member of the Management Board of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage Sarajevo, which appointed Trapara as director in August 2021.

It is no secret that Trapara is close to Our Party, and that he is friends with Naida Pozder, the current Minister of Environment and Tourism in the FBiH Government and an official of Our Party. The aforementioned Turkušić-Jurić is also a work colleague of Naida Pozder at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Sarajevo.

Regarding the certificate from the company Marvel, two prosecutor's offices are investigating how Trapara gained work experience while also pursuing his doctoral studies in France.

The RS Labor Inspectorate determined that this person was not engaged in this company on any basis, which is also evident from the PIO RS records, as this company never paid taxes or other obligations for him.

Upon reviewing the inspection report from the inspection carried out at the company Marvel on 05.22.2023, it was clearly established that Boris Trapara is not registered in the records of employed workers.

“The employer did not provide evidence that Boris Trapara was engaged in 'Marvel' d.o.o. East New Sarajevo under any form of employment contract. Based on the foregoing, it is clear that this body was not presented with evidence by the employer that the said person was previously engaged by the employer, nor that they are currently engaged by the employer in question, and therefore no documentation regarding their employment status with the said employer was presented,” states the letter from the Republican Administration for Inspection Affairs Banja Luka.

After the KS Prosecutor's Office arrested the director of KJKP Rad Sarajevo, Nijaz Salamović (NIP), last week, who faked a work experience certificate and due to whom the Statute of KJKP Rad was changed to state work experience instead of employment history, and who was subjected to measures prohibiting him from holding the director position, as well as Reuf Sulejmanović (Our Party), who headed the Supervisory Board of KJKP Rad that appointed Salamović, the question arises whether faking work experience is becoming a method of operation for the cadres of the Trojka parties.

Boris Trapara is still in the position of Director of the Institute, and his term expires next year. Until then, he will have a completely “clean work experience” for another term, unless the KS Prosecutor's Office prosecutes both Trapara and those who enabled him to take over a public institution based on disputed certificates, thereby damaging the KS Budget.