WE ARE WORRIED: Valentin Inzko has gone missing

Piše: Rasim Belko

---

Is the declaration of a state of emergency in the Republika Srpska in accordance with the BiH Constitution? Legal experts believe that Article 70 of the RS Constitution and Article 38 of the RS Government Law are not in accordance with the BiH Constitution and the Law on Protection and Rescue of People and Material Goods from Natural and Other Disasters, nor with the Law on Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina. What is the OHR's position on this issue?

Article 81 of the RS Constitution states that the President of the RS can issue decrees with the force of law only if a state of war or emergency has been declared by the institutions of BiH. Please provide an OHR comment on the announcement that the President of the RS will issue two decrees with the force of law today.

These are the questions we sent on Monday to the relevant public relations address of the Office of the High Representative in BiH. 

We did not receive a response. In fact, the OHR contacted us and said they could not say anything more than what the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) Steering Board stated in its declaration. That statement was supported by numerous embassies, NATO, EUFOR, OSCE…

“In the interest of preserving public trust, all urgent measures must be adopted in a fair, responsible, credible, and transparent manner. With that in mind, it is very important that institutions in BiH make significant efforts to implement urgent public procurement procedures, in accordance with applicable laws, in order to prevent any abuse of these procedures. This is especially important in the case of procurements in the health sector, but also in all other sectors affected by the current crisis. It is equally important to avoid possible abuses of urgent external assistance, and to ensure transparency and accountability in the process of distributing aid. It is necessary that a clear anti-corruption perspective be an indispensable part of the process of adopting necessary measures in BiH institutions,” this is part of the mentioned statement, which you can read HERE.

So, the question of the constitutionality of decisions in the Republika Srpska is not the primary interest of the High Representative, nor, it seems, of the PIC. 

Valentin Inzko was worried until March; since the outbreak of the pandemic, he has been listed as missing. 

Now we are worried about where High Representative Inzko is.

The pandemic does not affect constitutions. The spread of the virus is not and cannot be an excuse for an unconstitutional state of emergency and granting power to the President of the RS, Željka Cvijanović. And power in the hands of Željka Cvijanović is actually absolute power in the hands of Milorad Dodik. The logical question is whether the OHR, PIC, and other signatories of the letter have knowingly ceded that power to a man who is already a proven separatist and dictator. 

If they are already talking about democratic processes and the like, why do they not react to the first decision of the authorities in the RS during the state of emergency. 

“The dissemination or transmission of false news or claims that cause panic or seriously disturb public order and peace, or prevent or significantly hinder the implementation of decisions and measures of state bodies, other institutions or organizations exercising public authority, is prohibited. The prohibition from paragraph 1 of this article also applies to actions taken through public information media, social networks, or other similar means,” stated in the Decree with the force of law on the misdemeanor of causing disorder and panic.

While the PIC is busy talking about corruption, Milorad Dodik has decided to forcefully silence everyone willing to criticize his regime. There is no doubt that among the first to end up before Željka's summary court will be people like Nebojša Vukanović, as well as journalists from media outlets that have so far resisted absolute control by the authorities. 

A shot to the heart of democracy. Such decisions do not exist in any country whose embassies are co-signatories of the mentioned letter. They do not exist because they directly oppose what the civilized world advocates. 

And again, there is no Inzko, no OHR, not even a visible reaction from numerous defenders of media freedom. 

If the OHR had reacted on the day the state of emergency was declared, saying what the letter of Dayton obliges them to, today media workers and free people in the RS would not fear trials for spoken words. 

But they did not, and the situation is increasingly spiraling out of control. If creating chaos is not their goal, why did they not react. 

That is why we hope that Inzko will be found very soon and that someone will explain to him that it is time to react, because that is in his job description. 

The lack of reaction, as we have already written, casts doubt on the work of the High Representative and the OHR. 

The Lukašenko of Laktaši is obviously using this skillfully, and the suppression of freedom of thought and speech is just one in a series of steps towards creating a Belarusian-Serb entity in BiH. 

This time, the violation of the Constitution and the suppression of democracy are directly attributed to Valentin Inzko. 

Find the HIGH REPRESENTATIVE!