UDT proposed that Debevec be removed from the position of President of the Court of BiH

(Patria) - The Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor proposed that the suspended President of the State Court, Ranko Debevec, be given the strictest disciplinary measure – removal from office, while his attorney requests the dismissal of the lawsuit and acquittal from disciplinary responsibility.

Disciplinary Prosecutor Alena Kurspahić Nadarević stated that the allegations of the disciplinary lawsuit have been proven, and that Debevec committed a disciplinary offense of “any other behavior that constitutes a serious violation of official duty and calls into question public trust in the impartiality and credibility of the prosecution.”

According to her, during the disciplinary proceedings it was proven that the defendant, over a period of a year and a half, assigned 16 cases in 13 instances to various judges, contrary to the CMS Rulebook.

She referred to material evidence and witness testimonies, which she says are consistent. Kurspahić also recalled the testimonies of witnesses A and B, who spoke about how they received an order from the defendant to forward requests related to the CMS exclusively to witness C, who was the CMS administrator. All three witnesses are employees of the Court of BiH and had their identities protected during the proceedings.

On the other hand, attorney Kerim Čelik claims that the testimonies of these witnesses are inaccurate and contradictory, and states that witness C acted similarly in 34 cases during 2016, when Debevec was not president of the court.

“This shows that these three witnesses acted in a similar manner earlier,” said attorney Čelik, noting that they were never disciplined for this.

Commenting on part of witness A’s testimony, who stated during her testimony that she warned him it was an offense, Debevec said that she is the highest-ranking official in the Court of BiH who knows the regulations well, and asked why she did not make an official note.

Both Debevec and Čelik are of the opinion that the statute of limitations has expired in this case, given that the Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor did not initiate proceedings immediately after receiving the first information about these allegations. They recalled that the investigation into these allegations was discontinued in the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, which they believe means there is nothing that could be linked to this proceeding.

A criminal proceeding is also underway against Debevec for several criminal offenses before the Special Department of the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH.

The Disciplinary Commission of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council will make a decision within the legal deadline, writes Detektor.