Rule of Law or Anarchy: The War of Statements Between Salihović and Mektić Is the Tip of the Iceberg

The war of statements between BiH Security Minister Dragan Mektić and BiH Chief Prosecutor Goran Salihović has only publicly revealed the catastrophic state in which the police and judiciary in BiH have long been.

The two of them, or rather the institutions they head, are the top of the pyramid called the rule of law, which European officials continuously emphasize in their statements as one of the conditions for EU membership. The rule of law is the foundation of every democratic society.

If the public only learns about problems and mutual animosities through the airing of dirty laundry by officials when they clash in statements, concern is entirely logical, and one cannot help but wonder what kind of country we live in. Who guarantees us security, law, justice?

The situation is no better at lower levels, precisely in the police-judiciary relationship, which is the guarantor of citizens' security in every country, while in BiH, which must be an exception in everything, it seems to be a guarantor of insecurity, writes the Patria news agency.

After numerous media reports, Salihović ordered an investigation against Mektić regarding his allegedly fake diploma from the Faculty of Law in Zagreb.

Mektić then told Salihović that "he is the chief troublemaker in the country," stating that he has everything documented against him and that he will soon make it public.

Where does Mektić get secret data and information about cases, given that as security minister he has no operational authority nor access to case files, is a particular question that also warrants an investigation. Let us ask ourselves what else Mektić has in his hands and against whom? Is this not an abuse of position?

The state minister also pointed out that the BiH Prosecutor's Office, led by Salihović, deals with marginal matters, while at the same time there are no investigations, let alone verdicts, for organized crime and corruption.

Then Salihović responded to Mektić. Again with a public statement. He announced a defamation lawsuit against the security minister because he stated that he is "the chief troublemaker in the country who is unable to investigate a single diploma."

Mektić, of course, did not remain in debt.

- I will seek the removal of Goran Salihović from the position of chief prosecutor from the BiH High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council. But also an investigation into abuses of official position and authority. Let him sue me for defamation freely, and I will very gladly present evidence of my words to the public – said Mektić.

At the state level, the key pillars of the rule of law are "waging war with statements."

At the federal level, it is silent. In fact, no one even knows who the president of the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH is (except journalists who dig it up – it is Milorad Novković), while the eternal federal prosecutor is Zdravko Knežević. What they do is a mystery. What cases do they deal with, do they communicate with the media, do they receive orders from the Federal Police Administration for investigations, how many cases have they received from cantonal courts?

The situation in the Federal Police Administration, headed by pensioner Dragan Lukač, is a story in itself. It is rife with numerous illegalities, from his appointment to the abuse of the director's position and arbitrariness in the FPA. But the judiciary is silent, the federal one, even though it should ex officio open an investigation based on media reports.

The cantons are a story in themselves.

Former police commissioner of the Tuzla Canton Ministry of Interior, Samir Aljukić, was sentenced in the first instance to three years in prison for abuse of position and authority, extortion, and illegal mediation. Along with him, one police officer was also convicted.

The Minister of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton, Feliks Vidović, sends special forces to the streets to beat demobilized soldiers and their family members. And of course, all of this is covered up, so those seeking their rights are accused of disturbing public order and peace.

In Sarajevo Canton, it is sheer chaos. The murder of young Dženan Memić has been shrouded in secrecy for months. The cantonal prosecutor's office opens an investigation, then classifies it as a traffic accident.

Then a story emerges that the police officer who wrote the report made a mistake, and the investigation is reclassified as murder. Roma from Ilidža are arrested, then released, then returned to custody. In fact, no one even knows what the current classification of this criminal offense is or what stage the investigation is in.

The Security Commission of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly also got involved in the case, requesting disciplinary proceedings against police commissioner Vahid Ćosić for providing inaccurate information and concealing facts about the execution of official duties in the "Dženan Memić" case. The initiative was forwarded to the Minister of Interior of Sarajevo Canton, Vedran Mulabdić, who has not yet responded.

Commissioner Ćosić is also linked to a traffic accident caused by his son, but everything was hushed up. The commissioner remains the commissioner. The fact that he does not meddle in his own work but deals with other things according to who knows whose orders and wishes could also be investigated.

After that, the case of Orhan Bajraktarević, a professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, occurred. During Ramadan, he was beaten "for no reason at all" by members of the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Interior, for which this respected theologian has medical reports, but the police distanced themselves with a statement in which it appears that he attacked them!? The professor has hired a lawyer who will prove that the police used force illegally.

One should not forget the numerous abuses in SIPA while Goran Zubac was at its helm, when certain people were filmed with cameras during arrests, while others were hidden from the public eye. The same is true of the Federal Police Administration, where some are arrested spectacularly with house raids in the presence of TV cameras, while others are "begged on bended knee" and gentlemanly escorted to the prosecutor's office.

There would be much more to write about the mutual dysfunction of the judiciary and police agencies at all levels of government in BiH, as well as within them. Even what has been mentioned, which is just a grain of sand in the desert, deeply worries all citizens of this country.

If the top of the judiciary and the security minister are waging war with statements, accusing each other, if police commissioners are in prison, while others are covering up investigations and the truth, and in the Federal Police Administration, pensioner Dragan Lukač is calling the shots, how can the citizens of this country feel safe?

Do they dare go to the police to report seeing a murder, accident, or theft? Who can they turn to when, from the top to the lowest level, the key people responsible for upholding the rule of law are involved in all sorts of things, insulting and accusing each other, and seemingly doing the least of their jobs for which they are handsomely paid?

Where is their responsibility towards all of us? Will they face consequences for creating the state of anarchy into which they are leading us? Or are we already in anarchy, but have only now publicly found out. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.....