Over 500,000 Users Endangered: Ministry Secretary Steals Seal!

A scandal is shaking the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. Sources of the Patria News Agency from this ministry testify that the Secretary General of the Ministry Fehim Bekan has appropriated, illegally, the Ministry's seal and has effectively kept the entire Ministry blocked for several weeks, endangering more than 500,000 users of the Ministry, mostly vulnerable populations, pensioners, disabled persons...

Bekan will keep the seal with him for several more weeks, according to sources, actually, until the formation of the new Federal Government and the appointment of a new minister. However, he doesn't need the seal for longer. Bekan will use the vacuum and the seal to fill six vacant positions in this ministry with cadres loyal to him.

This is not new for Bekan. The same scenario, sources claim, he orchestrated four years ago, during the transition period between Minister Perica Jelečević and Vjekoslav Čamber, when he appointed at least seven of his people to some of the key positions in the Ministry, who still work under his directive.

The Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office has received a criminal complaint against Bekan for unauthorized possession of the seal, but the Prosecutor's Office has not yet commented.

When asked by Patria journalists how it is possible for Bekan to illegally hold the Ministry's seal without police and prosecutors reacting, sources simply say:

- Bekan does not hide that he has control over the Sarajevo police, the Prosecutor's Office, and even the FBiH Government.

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina passed a decision on January 30th appointing Stjepan Buconjić to sign decisions within the competence of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, payment orders for financial obligations of this ministry, as well as other acts. The FBiH Government made this decision after Minister Vjekoslav Čamber resigned from his position.

However, sources claim that Secretary Bekan did not like this, as he had planned that position for himself in order to fill the vacant positions in the Ministry with his cadres, after which the obstruction of Buconjić's work began.

Five days after his appointment, Buconjić suspended Bekan and banned him from entering the Ministry building, and sent a criminal complaint against him to the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of abuse of office.

However, neither the secretary respects the decision of his superior Buconjić, nor does the Prosecutor's Office react to the criminal complaint.

Instead, Patria sources claim, a few days after the criminal complaint, Bekan illegally took the Ministry's seal from the office, effectively blocking the work of this government institution.

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy is one of the key ministries in the FBiH Government, managing over 300 million KM annually.

Fehim Bekan has previously been accused of abusing his position as Secretary General of this ministry, after which he was dismissed by the decision of the OHR. He was reinstated in 2004. Bekan's name is also mentioned in the Dardanija hotel affair in 2000, when a receptionist reported an attempted rape, writes Patria.