VSTV will not appoint federal USKOK prosecutors this week either, FBiH Government 'seeking' accommodation for Special Department

(Patria) - The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (VSTV) of BiH will again postpone the decisions on the appointment of judges and prosecutors who are to lead or be engaged in the Special Department of the Federal Prosecutor's Office for Combating Corruption, Organized and Inter-Cantonal Crime and the Supreme Court of BiH, Istraga.ba has learned.

These appointments were on the initial agenda of the VSTV BiH session, which will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, September 4 and 5, this year. However, as Istraga has learned, officials from the US Embassy sent a letter to the VSTV requesting that this item be removed from the agenda.



The Americans, Istraga.ba has learned, requested that the judges and prosecutors of the so-called Federal USKOK be appointed at the next VSTV session, scheduled for the end of September.

"We would ask you to postpone these appointments to the next session, scheduled for September 25 and 26. You have assurances from our senior leadership that there will be no further requests for postponement.

Please forward this message to the Council members," stated the letter from the US Embassy to the President of the VSTV, Halil Lagumdžija.

As we said, the agenda was supposed to include the appointment of a special deputy chief federal prosecutor of the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the Federation of BiH, the Special Department of the Federal Prosecutor's Office for Combating Corruption, Organized and Inter-Cantonal Crime.

Four prosecutors remained in the shortlist for this position: Ivana Petković, Aida Topalović, Pavo Radoš, and Čazim Serhatlić. In the meantime, cantonal prosecutor Aida Topalović was removed from consideration because the Appellate Panel of the VSTV fined her for (non)action in a femicide case.

Ćazim Serhatlić is under investigation by the Disciplinary Prosecutor's Office of the VSTV, so his chances are also very slim.

State prosecutor Ivana Petković is connected to Amer Selak, a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of KS, who was arrested in the Sky case, so Pavo Radoš, a prosecutor from Brčko, has the most likely chance of being appointed.

In addition to this position, the VSTV should also appoint nine prosecutors of the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the Federation of BiH, and ten judges of the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH - Special Department of the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH.

However, the problem in this situation is the accommodation for the Special Department. We remind you that the Government of the Federation of BiH, led by Nermin Nikšić, abolished the funds intended for the construction of the Palace of Justice, where the special departments for combating corruption and organized crime were to be housed, during the rebalancing of the FBiH budget last autumn.

Let us remind you that in this year's FBiH budget, proposed by the former FBiH Government led by Fadil Novalić and adopted by the current parliamentary majority of the Trojka and HNS parties, an allocation of 3.5 million marks was foreseen for the construction of a building to house the so-called Federal USKOK.

However, during the last budget rebalancing, Nikšić's Government proposed, and the ruling parliamentary majority adopted, the proposal to transfer the funds intended for the construction of the building to other positions.

After that, it was announced that the Special Department would be housed in the Hotel "Emiran", which was confiscated during a criminal proceeding. However, about ten days ago, the Government abandoned that solution as well and tasked the federal institutions to find another solution.

According to Istraga's information, one of the options is the building of Privredna banka in Sarajevo. Privredna banka is co-owned by businessman Hamid Pršeš, whose wife Elizabet Tomašinec is a high-ranking diplomat at the EU Delegation in Sarajevo.

According to Istraga's information, this building does not meet the requirements, and the chief federal prosecutor Munib Halilović and court police officials have already informed the FBiH Government about this, which is still "seeking a solution".

In the meantime, HDZ cadres in the FBiH Government are insisting on amending the current law adopted in 2014, and on stripping the Special Department of its jurisdiction in the area of corruption. This would effectively place HDZ cadres outside the reach of the so-called Federal USKOK.

At the same time, the US Ambassador to Sarajevo, Michael Murphy, instead of targeting HDZ cadres, is pressuring the Prime Minister of the Federation, Nermin Nikšić, effectively threatening him with the fate of former Prime Minister Fadil Novalić if the special department does not become operational by December of this year.