Council of Ministers of BiH suspends BHMAC Director Dušan Gavran

The Council of Ministers, upon the proposal of the Demining Commission in BiH, has issued a Decision on the preventive suspension of the Director of the Mine Action Centre in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHMAC) Dušan Gavran and authorized the Assistant Director for Operations at BHMAC, Milan Reza, to temporarily perform the duties of the Director while the proceedings against Gavran are ongoing before the competent court, it was announced from the Press Service of the Council of Ministers, reports the Patria agency.

We remind you that Gavran was arrested in April this year on suspicion of abuse of official position and authority. As announced by the BiH Prosecutor's Office at the time, "the suspect is under investigation for the criminal offenses of abuse of position or authority, accepting gifts or other benefits, and falsifying official documents".

Gavran interrupted his sick leave and came to work on September 1, after which the Commission requested his suspension until the end of the proceedings. Gavran has been heading BH MAC for 12 years.

At the hearing of the BiH Court held on April 24, state prosecutor Emir Neradin presented statements from numerous witnesses about bribery of Gavran, as he was accused of blackmailing them for numerous projects as the absolute supervisor in the field of demining. He is also accused of rigging public auctions for the sale of vehicles. It is also suspected that he rigged the sale of between 30 and 40 vehicles and that he took hundreds of thousands of marks from the price differences of these vehicles, reports Patria.

CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE TO MINE VICTIMS

The Council of Ministers of BiH has determined the Proposal of the Basis for conducting negotiations for the conclusion of a Cooperation Agreement in the field of anti-mine action between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia through the International Trust Fund for Demining and Mine Victims Assistance (ITF).

This way, cooperation between BiH and Slovenia through the Ljubljana-based ITF continues, and safety in the field of demining, as well as assistance to mine victims, is improved.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia first concluded a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the work of the ITF back in 1998, and in this way, BiH gained the right to use donor funds for demining. The Proposal of the Basis will be sent to the Presidency of BiH for further procedure, and the Minister of Civil Affairs has been proposed as the BiH signatory.