HJPC annuls competition for Chief Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office

(Patria) - The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) will today make a decision on annulling the competition for the election of the new Chief Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office. 

On Monday, the HJPC Subcommittee decided not to propose any of the candidates and to annul the competition. 

“That decision will be discussed, and if the Council takes a different stance, by a majority, then, according to some procedure, the Subcommittee could immediately withdraw, take a stance in line with the Council’s decision and propose [candidates]. But that will only happen at the next session,” explained HJPC President Halil Lagumdžija to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH).

On the same day the Subcommittee proposed annulling the competition, the United States of America (USA) imposed sanctions on prosecutor Diana Kajmaković, who was one of the candidates for the position of Chief Prosecutor, explaining that they consider her responsible for corruption or complicity in corruption, and for undermining democratic processes or institutions in the Western Balkans.

Besides Kajmaković, Milanko Kajganić, acting Chief Prosecutor, applied for the competition. He has been aware since May that Kajmaković is linked to criminals who mentioned her via the Sky application. Kajganić transferred Kajmaković to the War Crimes Department and removed her from cases related to the Sky application. 

He did the same with prosecutor Oleg Čavka, who was also mentioned in the conversations of criminals in Sky communication. 

The third candidate is Miroslav Janjić, a long-time prosecutor who received high marks from the Commission. 

Candidate Seid Marušić was eliminated from the further race after scoring.