Vilić: SIPA's Special Unit was ready, we were waiting for the director's approval

The trial of Goran Zubac, director of the Agency for Investigations and Protection of BiH (SIPA), continued today before the Court of BiH. Zubac is accused of negligent performance of duty, specifically that during the protests on February 7th in Sarajevo, he ignored requests for assistance in protecting the BiH Presidency building and refused to deploy SIPA's special unit, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

A total of five witnesses for the BiH Prosecutor's Office were heard. The first to testify was Dubravko Čampara, who explained that on February 7th, he was in contact with Saša Sarajlić, who was the duty prosecutor that day.

- I live very close to the BiH Presidency building and I saw what was happening, so I told Saša that an investigation could not be conducted because it was not safe. So, we did not conduct an investigation on February 7th, but the day after, with the Federal Police Administration, because no one was answering at SIPA. That was the information I had from the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH. As soon as I saw that the Presidency building was set on fire, I knew it was an act of terrorism – said Čampara.

Dragiša Jokić, Goran Zubac's lawyer, asked Čampara if he personally called his client to inform him about the current situation.

- I did not call him, because SIPA was supposed to be on site and inform us – said Čampara.

His colleague Saša Sarajlić said that he called Zubac on February 8th, the day after the major unrest, but that Zubac did not answer.

- That did not surprise me, because I had seen him at a rally before and greeted him, and he just looked down on me. Then I realized that he clearly thought he was superior to me and would not respond to me – explained Sarajlić, adding that on February 7th, he spoke with an official from the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies.

Mirsad Vilić, who served as the commander of SIPA's Special Support Unit at the time, specified in his testimony that the members of this unit were assembled and that they operate exclusively on the orders of the SIPA director.

- Given all the events of that day, I spoke with Director Zubac at 3 PM to see what we would do. He told me that we had no orders from the BiH Prosecutor's Office or the BiH Court to intervene. Later, I received a call from an official of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies who asked me if it was true that a part of the unit was heading towards the Presidency building. I said that was not true and called the director again. I spoke with him at 4:50 PM, and he told me then that the members of the Special Unit were going home and to be on standby, and that he had not yet received an order for intervention. We only act on the director's orders – specified Vilić.

Himzo Selimović, then director of the Directorate, said that he tried to reach Zubac around 3:30 PM, and later sent a dispatch and requested assistance.

- Director Zubac then told me that they had no legal basis to act – said Selimović.

He added that Zubac did not provide any explanations, and that in the explanation of his resignation after the unfortunate events, he stated that this was one of the reasons, as he wanted to draw public attention to the need to amend or supplement certain legal provisions.

Josip Petrić, commander of the FUP Special Police Unit, said that they received an order from FUP Director Dragan Lukač at 4:25 PM to intervene, and that they completed their activities by 7 PM.

The next hearing is scheduled for October 10th at 1 PM, and the Prosecutor's Office has summoned Fahrudin Radončić, former BiH Security Minister, Dragan Lukač, director of the Federal Police Administration, Dragan Golijanin, and Nedeljko Škrba as witnesses.

The indictment against Goran Zubac states, among other things, that the accused Zubac, as a public official in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by knowingly violating laws and other regulations, acted obviously negligently in the performance of his duties, resulting in property damage exceeding 10,000 KM. Zubac ignored the requests of the then director of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH, Himzo Selimović, to deploy SIPA's Special Support Unit on February 7th to protect the BiH Presidency building.

Prosecutor Miroslav Marković previously stated that the estimated damage was 398,365.18 KM, and a total of 27 witnesses were announced.