Why Izetbegović reacts indefinitely and lukewarmly to Radončić's accusations

SBB leader Fahrudin Radončić was arrested on January 25th this year. He was ordered into pre-trial detention. At the hearing held in February, when the decision was made that he would be released to house arrest with restrictive measures, Radončić accused in the courtroom the “SDA president Bakir Izetbegović and parts of the SDA, of framing and fabricating a court process,” writes the Patria News Agency.

This is not Radončić's only accusation against Izetbegović and parts of the SDA. Excluding the period before the coalition was formed, when Radončić very often labeled Izetbegović as the leader of the Bosniak mafia, Izetbegović has been targeted by Radončić several times in the last month alone.

It is interesting that Izetbegović has not responded to any of these accusations, and when pressed by journalists to comment on Radončić's accusations, Izetbegović most often replied that he did not know what Radončić specifically meant, and that he was committed to the SDA and SBB coalition. At least he appeared calm in public.

Already after Radončić's arrest, Izetbegović said that “he would not want this to be some kind of pressure on the Court’s decision, but besides all of us being responsible for our work, we should all be responsible for the situation and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Izetbegović.

Izetbegović also said that Radončić deserved to defend himself from freedom. After Radončić's initial accusations that the BiH Prosecutor's Office had been targeting him for a long time, that the whole case was revenge due to the compromise that he would be the SDA and SBB candidate in 2018 for the BiH Presidency member because Bakir Izetbegović could not run for a third term, Izetbegović reacted mildly, only denying that there was an agreement about Radončić as a joint candidate.

Even when Radončić very sharply accused Izetbegović and Osman Mehmedagić Osmica, director of OSA, of the murder of Ramiz Delalić, Izetbegović did not want to comment on it.

 - I would not give comments at a time when we do not have Radončić to ask him if he stands behind such words. I would not venture to comment on such things - Izetbegović said.

- What someone thinks or possibly says at one moment, perhaps, is not that important. What is important is where all this is going, how Mr. Radončić relates to this coalition, and how that party relates to the coalition. And they are relating well, they had the SBB Presidency today and they gave good, stabilizing messages, and they will receive such from us as well - Izetbegović said.

- I do not stand behind that, it is not in my interest. It is in my interest to have a good relationship with Mr. Radončić and stability in the coalition - Izetbegović said.

The SDA leader did not react even when on Friday, March 4th, after being returned to the detention unit of the BiH Court for violating restrictive measures, Radončić repeated in his address at the hearing that this was a politically motivated process and the need of one man who imagined leading two parties.

- I cannot speculate what he meant, but you see that we persistently repeat our commitment to work with SBB on stabilizing the situation, on completing the implementation of the agreement. I cannot speculate who Mr. Radončić meant - added the SDA leader.

Even before he was arrested, the SBB leader publicly accused some high-ranking SDA officials in interviews of fabricating a case against him, specifically naming Aljoša Čampara and Asim Sarajlić. Then, the Vice-President of SBB, Mirsad Đonlagić, repeated the same when the party leader was first in detention. He publicly identified Čampara and Sarajlić as those who prepared the arrest of his president.

- The views of SDA and SBB regarding the role of Aljoša Čampara do not align, but everyone has the right to their view - said Izetbegović, adding:

- He was among the first, to the surprise of many in the SDA, to propose a coalition with SBB, and everything else is speculation.