SDA Presidency Conclusions: Demanding accountability from the Council of Ministers and the FBiH Government, and investigations by the Prosecutor's Office into SKY and ANOM

(Patria) - The Presidency of the Party of Democratic Action held a session in Sarajevo today, after which conclusions were announced.

We are publishing the conclusions of the SDA Presidency in full:

"1. The SDA Presidency welcomes the adoption of the Law on the Southern Gas Interconnection in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament. We expect the Law to be adopted in the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament as well, and for the processes of concluding the interstate agreement with the Republic of Croatia and preparations for the construction of the gas pipeline to continue rapidly. The Southern Gas Interconnection is a strategic national interest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, our international partners, and every citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore, any obstruction is unacceptable. Attempts to reduce the Southern Gas Interconnection project to inter-ethnic, and even inter-religious relations, which some Croatian political representatives are attempting, are senseless.

2. The SDA Presidency calls on the Council of Ministers of BiH to take responsibility and finally agree on the reforms necessary for the approval of the Reform Program for the Growth Plan and submit it to the European Commission. The current government confirms day by day that it is incapable of fulfilling even the minimal requirements of the EU and initiating our country's European path. At the same time, we demand political accountability from the representatives of the current government at the state level due to the unprecedented embarrassment they caused by canceling the Summit of Leaders of the Western Balkans and the European Union in Neum. We demand that police and judicial bodies determine criminal responsibility for the abuse of office and trading in influence in an attempt to rig a contract for the organization of the Summit to companies and individuals close to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH.

3. The SDA Presidency supports the increase in salaries for civil servants in BiH institutions, but warns that a new increase in the enormously high salaries of elected and appointed officials is unacceptable. The SDA Club in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament will continue to insist on amendments to the Law that will limit the salaries of elected and appointed officials to the 2024 level.

4. The SDA Presidency demands accountability from the FBiH Government due to the unacceptably slow reaction after the floods that hit Jablanica and several other municipalities in FBiH. Even two and a half months after the floods, the FBiH Government has not been able to ensure the repair of the railway line and thoroughly restore the damage to the M-17 main road, causing direct and indirect damages to the economy of the Federation of BiH amounting to hundreds of millions of KM. Therefore, those responsible must face consequences. The public certainly cannot expect a government that has not been able to repair part of the damaged railway line to realize much more complex projects, such as the construction of the Prenj and Hranjen tunnels.

5. The SDA Presidency demands that the Bosniak Club of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament, together with interested delegates from the clubs of the other two peoples, initiate the adoption of a Declaration to stop the purchase of the building of the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH. The allocation of an unacceptably high amount of KM 100 million for a building in Banja Luka, and the obvious favoritism towards a person close to the SNSD president Milorad Dodik, which is also supported by representatives of the Trojka, clearly indicates high corruption. Therefore, we demand that the Prosecutor's Office of BiH finally initiate the determination of responsibility for all those involved in rigging the tender for Dodik's godson. Alarms in the Prosecutor's Office of BiH should have been raised long ago in this case, especially after learning that an amount for which the entire building was originally supposed to be purchased is intended to be allocated just for parking. The price per square meter of parking alone, at KM 5,800, which is more than the average price per square meter of an apartment in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, clearly indicates illegal activities in which the highest officials of the current state government are involved.

6. The SDA Presidency once again points to the need for urgent and thorough reform of the judicial system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The court verdicts in the cases against former federal prime minister Fadil Novalić and former BiH Minister of Defense Selma Cikotić, during which the prosecution of officials from other political parties and peoples was deliberately avoided, clearly indicate the abuse of the judiciary for political purposes. The dissenting opinion and public statements of judge Branko Perić, as well as other individuals involved in the process, the dissenting opinion of the judge of the Constitutional Court of BiH Mirsad Ćeman, but also the evidence and information presented during the court proceedings, confirm the violation of the right to a fair trial of those prosecuted.
 
It is evident that there is a judicial-political nexus, which aimed to achieve political and personal gain through the abuse of the judicial system.  
The statement of one of the accused in the "Novalić and others" case, in which he claims that he was offered a plea deal in exchange for testimony that would falsely accuse another person of alleged involvement in the procurement of medical devices, further confirms the thesis about the participation of a part of the judicial system in a politically fabricated affair with the aim of discrediting and eliminating political opponents for the benefit of the masterminds. Such actions require an urgent investigation and sanctioning of those responsible for the abuse of the judiciary. The plan to continue with fabrications was thwarted by public resistance, which is finally receiving truthful information, as well as the extensive and thorough investigation by the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office, during which more than 10,000 material evidence was collected from 15 different institutions, and which established that there were no incidents with the procured respirators.

Day by day, it is confirmed that a huge amount of information released to the public was false. Therefore, the competent judicial institutions must investigate and determine the responsibility of persons who, during the declared state of natural and other disasters due to the coronavirus pandemic, deliberately spread disinformation that caused public unrest, discouraged the infected from seeking appropriate medical help, and thus directly endangered the health and lives of citizens.
 
7. The SDA Presidency demands that the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina more actively conduct investigations and finally file indictments based on evidence collected from the Sky and Anom applications.
 
Given that the transcripts from these communication systems published in the public domain indicate a connection between crime and the highest political officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the prosecution of these cases must be the number one priority in the fight against corruption and organized crime.
 
Affairs such as the cooperation of political parties and officials with international drug cartels, the financing of political campaigns with money from drug sales, the purchase of uniforms for the needs of the Special Unit of the FUPM, and the payment of VAT from the budget of the Sarajevo Canton must have a judicial epilogue.