Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor of the HJPC files charges against Tuzla prosecutor Ćazim Serhatlić for obstructing an investigation

(Patria) - The Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor of the HJPC (ODP) has filed disciplinary charges against Ćazim Serhatlić, a prosecutor at the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Tuzla, Istraga.ba has learned.

Serhatlić is charged over correspondence published by Istraga.ba in September last year. The correspondence shows that Serhatlić obstructed an investigation against the then-director of the HJPC Secretariat, Admir Suljagić.

Prosecutor Ćazim Serhatlić coordinated his actions in the case in which Admir Suljagić was the reported/suspect with Admir Suljagić.

“Hello. Have you decided when I should give a statement at SIPA? Do we have an approximate date, or week?” Admir Suljagić asked prosecutor Serhatlić via Viber, who, a few days earlier, had “opened a case” against Admir Suljagić regarding the “owner of the judiciary” case.

“I just did,” prosecutor Serhatlić replied to Suljagić, “a letter for SIPA and I didn't set a timeframe, just said urgent so they can find you. Though, I didn't include a phone number, because that's not needed. They'll manage.”

“Do I need a lawyer?” Suljagić asked.

“No. I listed you as a witness on what we discussed,” Serhatlić wrote.

This correspondence was found in the phone of the now-former director of the HJPC Secretariat, Admir Suljagić, during the forensic examination of his phone at the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA).

The unraveling began when Istraga published correspondence in September 2023 between the then-director of the HJPC, Admir Suljagić, and businessman Dženan Mujkić from Gračanica, who was arrested as part of the Rudnik operation.

“Admir S. – owner of the judiciary,” read a message received on February 11, 2021, by businessman Dženan Mujkić from Gračanica.

Seven days later, Dženan Mujkić, along with his father and then-state prosecutor Enver Bijedić, was arrested as part of the Rudnik operation. When the TK Prosecutor's Office sent Mujkić's phone for forensic examination, numerous messages incriminating the “owner of the judiciary,” Admir Suljagić, were found.

Following this publication, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina opened a case against Suljagić. In November last year, his phone was seized by order of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, before Suljagić's phone was seized, the Prosecutor's Office of the Tuzla Canton, i.e., prosecutor Ćazim Serhatlić, who was also the prosecutor in the Rudnik case, opened a case on this matter. The goal of prosecutor Serhatlić was to save Admir Suljagić. That the “suspect” Suljagić and prosecutor Serhatlić coordinated everything is proven by the correspondence found in Suljagić's phone, as stated in the SIPA findings.