Bribes Taken: Pašaga and Selimović Convicted, KS Prosecutor's Office Lawyer Mehmedbašić Under Immunity

By: Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN)

Municipal Court clerks in Sarajevo Pašaga Selimović and Ekrem Bezdrob were found guilty of taking bribes and sentenced to one year and four months in prison each. The Municipal Court in Sarajevo ruled that 4,880 KM, and 500 KM respectively, acquired illegally by Selimović and Bezdrob, shall be confiscated. The court acquitted them of charges of revealing official secrets and failing to report a criminal offense.

The court considered it an aggravating circumstance in its ruling that, as court clerks, they had compromised the integrity of the court. Their prison sentences include 70 days spent in custody. After the verdict was announced, Bezdrob told a journalist from the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN) that "the poor suffer".

According to the indictment of the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo, Selimović and Bezdrob, as clerks responsible for the execution of criminal sanctions, accepted money and gifts from Sarajevo lawyer Omar Mehmedbašić and at least eight convicts. These individuals approached Selimović and Bezdrob with requests for postponement of prison sentences, substitution of prison sentences with fines, or house arrest with electronic monitoring.

Investigation Initiated by a Convict

The case was reported by convict Emir Porobić. He visited the offices of Selimović and Bezdrob at the Municipal Court in Sarajevo several times, requesting a postponement of his ten-month prison sentence for aggravated theft, or its substitution with a fine. Porobić gave money and other gifts to Selimović and Bezdrob on multiple occasions.

He ceased this practice in mid-2015 when he reported them to the Federal Police Administration, which then launched an investigation. The police installed audio and video surveillance in the clerks' offices, monitoring their work.

The clerks were recorded accepting money from convicts, as well as from Omar Mehmedbašić, who represented most of these convicts.

At one point, Selimović and Bezdrob became aware of the audio surveillance but were unaware of the video surveillance. They then began refusing offered money and warned convicts through gestures and written messages.

Selimović and Bezdrob were arrested in early December 2015, at which time lawyer Mehmedbašić was also arrested. However, the lawyer was released in exchange for testimony, receiving immunity from prosecution.

During his testimony, lawyer Mehmedbašić admitted to giving money to Selimović and Bezdrob so that his clients' requests would be approved, or as he put it, for the cases to be "finalized". He stated that he viewed them as "catalysts" - "people who know what's going on".

Alen Nakić and Tarik Čingić, defense attorneys, insisted during the trial that their clients Selimović and Bezdrob were not the final decision-makers regarding the requests, but that the Court President and the judges handling these cases made those decisions. However, lawyer Mehmedbašić testified:

"When I give money, I know it will be done. That was implied." He added that he would ask for the money back "if it didn't go through".

Mehmedbašić admitted that in some cases he took money from clients and shared it with Bezdrob and Selimović, which he referred to in slang as "lapo-lapo" (meaning give and take). In some cases, he even gave his own money to retain a client.

"It wasn't a large amount. There were never large sums involved - just petty cash, which I gave more for my own image," said Mehmedbašić.

Bribes as a Custom

Several witnesses in the proceedings, including Alen Agović, admitted to giving money to clerks "for coffee" and "to treat them", explaining that it was a "custom".

Agović visited clerk Bezdrob with requests to postpone his one-year and three-month prison sentence for unauthorized production and trafficking of narcotic drugs. He sought a postponement, citing the need to care for his sick father, but his requests were not granted. However, Agović remained free longer because he was turned away from the prison gate several times, with the explanation that there were no available spots in the prison at the time.

He stated that he gave clerk Bezdrob, who was in charge of his case, 50 or 60 KM on several occasions for "proper procedure".

"I really didn't have it. Maybe if I had, I would have given the man more," testified Agović. He said he left the money in front of the clerk but did not see if he took it.

When asked by Judge Tin Begtašević about the role court clerks for the execution of criminal sanctions played in his life, Agović replied: "Well, I know that when I came to the Central Prison, there was no space. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Agović said, adding that Bezdrob had been accommodating regarding his father.

According to the current laws of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), a prison sentence can be postponed at the request of the convicted person, among other reasons, in cases of serious illness, death in the family, or completion of education. Also, a prison sentence of up to one year can be commuted to a fine or, in certain cases, house arrest with electronic monitoring. However, some convicts remained free longer due to full prison capacity. Adela Bejtović, head of the Cabinet of the President of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, stated during her testimony that Bezdrob and Selimović, in the course of their duties, were in constant contact with the prison administration. This suggests they may have had information about the availability of space in the prison.

The President of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, Janja Jovanović, told the Center for Investigative Journalism that the prison administration is obliged to inform the court when it cannot accept a convict due to full capacity, and the court then informs the Ministry of Justice of the FBiH to arrange accommodation in another prison.

"Well, they very rarely inform us in writing," says Jovanović.

Jovanović states that Selimović and Bezdrob could not influence the postponement of sentence execution. "Whether they misled convicts into believing that their sentence would be postponed due to their efforts, I don't know, but they could never influence the postponement of a sentence," says Jovanović.

Selimović and Bezdrob, who held the positions of clerks for the execution of criminal sanctions since 2011, were suspended immediately after their arrest.

"However, both of them met the conditions for retirement and retired immediately, at the very moment the legal conditions were met," says Jovanović.

In addition to the change of clerks in the Department for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions at the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, another change occurred - Jovanović states that after the arrest of Selimović and Bezdrob, no convicted person was turned away from the prison gate due to full capacity.