Is POSKOK directing the investigation away from Nikšić, why is there no indictment in the 'Bjelašnica' case?

By: Amra Vrabac

The Special Department for Combating Corruption, Organized and Inter-cantonal Crime of the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (POSKOK) has taken over several hundred cases from cantonal prosecutor's offices, and this week alone, POSKOK acted in as many as three cases.

Thus, on Tuesday, searches were carried out at four locations in the Canton of Sarajevo, on suspicion of committing several corrupt acts. During the search, phones were temporarily confiscated from four individuals who exchanged messages about employment and certain appointments, which were found in the correspondence on the phone of the acting director of the Federal Police Administration, Vahidin Munjić. Although the prosecutor Aida Bešlija had the correspondence from Munjić's phone for months, which was confiscated from him at the end of April 2024 when he was arrested as part of the "Black tie 2" operation, Bešlija did not take any action until journalist Avdo Avdić began publishing these messages on the show "Istraga sedmice" on Hayat TV and on the portal Istraga.ba.

The published correspondence also includes messages exchanged between the Federal Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić and Munjić, the authenticity of which was confirmed by Nikšić himself while a guest on BHRT. In that message, Nikšić asks Munjić what is happening with "Autoceste" (Highways) and that it would be good to "nab some criminal". Nikšić sees nothing wrong with directly communicating with Munjić and announced that he will continue to communicate with any FUP director. He also confirmed that his chief of staff, Arijana Huseinović-Ajanović, communicated on his behalf.

According to the Law on Internal Affairs of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Independent Board monitors the work of the police director and reports to the Parliament of the Federation, the Government of the Federation, and the minister on the director's work. The Independent Board is also responsible for conducting the first-instance disciplinary proceedings against the director and imposing disciplinary measures, and one of its responsibilities is the dismissal of the director, i.e., it submits a proposal for the dismissal of the director to the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Independent Board met on October 27 and requested a written explanation from Munjić regarding his communication with the Federal Prime Minister, as well as the content of other correspondence.

Most of the published messages with Munjić were exchanged with FUP inspector Muhamed Ohranović, who is part of the team providing security for Nikšić, chief of staff Arijana Huseinović-Ajanović, and the director of the Police Academy, Ervin Mušinović. While their phones were confiscated, Nikšić was not included in POSKOK's orders, even though the entire affair is called "Spengavanje" (Nabbing). The POSKOK prosecution team is clearly directing the investigation in a different direction from Nikšić, who called on this judicial institution, which he ceremonially opened at the beginning of May, to investigate everything. Everything except Nikšić, perhaps, while others are being questioned at POSKOK today.

In order to divert pressure from Nikšić, POSKOK has been busy this week, conducting two operations yesterday in two other cases involving ministers in the FBiH Government and federal institutions.

Thus, yesterday, a search was carried out at the premises of JP Međunarodni aerodrom Sarajevo (JP International Airport Sarajevo), in connection with a criminal case against members of the Supervisory Board and Management of MAS due to the criminal offense of Abuse of Office or Authority under Article 383, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of FBiH, in conjunction with Article 31 of the Criminal Code of FBiH. The appointment of the director is disputed, as are the changes to the Statute made during September, to which the FBiH Government gave its consent.

The third case that POSKOK worked on this week is a report filed by the legal entity Ilirya Tech Group d.o.o. Sarajevo, against the Federal Minister of Development, Entrepreneurship and Crafts of FBiH, Vojin Mijatović, regarding actions taken during the allocation of grant funds for current transfers under project number 5 "Development of the start-up ecosystem", according to the Public Call of the Federal Ministry of Development, Entrepreneurship and Crafts of FBiH for the selection of beneficiaries of grant funds for capital and current transfers for 2025, published in "Sl. novine FBiH", number 21/25 of March 21, 2025.

By order of the Special Department of the Supreme Court of FBiH, and at the proposal of the acting federal prosecutor, as part of the verification of the allegations in the report, among other actions, mobile phones of three individuals, including Vojin Mijatović, were temporarily seized.

Suspicion of committing the criminal offense of Association for the purpose of committing criminal offenses under Article 340 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in conjunction with the criminal offense of Abuse of Office or Authority under Article 383 of the Criminal Code of FBiH, the criminal offense of Giving a Reward or Other Benefit for Trafficking in Influence under Article 382 of the Criminal Code of FBiH, and the criminal offense of Giving a Reward or Other Benefit for Trafficking in Influence under Article 382a of the Criminal Code of FBiH. Mijatović also called on POSKOK to investigate everything.

Although POSKOK "rolled up its sleeves" this week, it should be reminded that there is a large number of cases it took over from the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office six months ago, for which an indictment was ready, but there is no indictment to this day.

One of these cases is "Ibro Berilo and others", better known as "Bjelašnica", and although all the documentation has been taken over, no indictment has been filed to date, which should have included the former Minister of Communal Economy, Bojan Bošnjak (Naša stranka), who was dismissed in March this year. The mayor of Trnovo, Ibro Berilo, is not performing his duties as mayor due to prohibition measures, and apartments in the "Aroma" building in Bjelašnica have also been blocked.

Incidentally, the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office also handled the "Aerodrom" case, and when they issued orders for further actions, POSKOK requested the takeover of the case.

The Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office also handed over the "Vidikovac" case to POSKOK, as well as the case against Almir Čehajić Batko.
While numerous taken-over cases are pending, it seems that POSKOK now has the role of saving Nikšić from criminal prosecution, even though the published correspondence does not favor him at all.