By Amra Vrabac
At the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, a hearing was held yesterday regarding the extension of detention for the Minister of Science, Higher Education and Youth of KS Adna Mesihović and her party colleague Ibrahim Obhođaš, both cadres of the movement For New Generations founded by Damir Marjanović, current representative in the KS Assembly and director of a public institution in the Republic of Croatia. They were arrested in April and placed in one-month detention. The KS Prosecutor's Office requested an additional two months of detention.
While awaiting the decision of the Municipal Court, which should be known in the next day or two, new details emerged at the hearing regarding the actions taken by Mesihović and Obhođaš, favoring certain individuals associated with the political movement For New Generations, one of whom is Ibrahim Obhođaš's sister. Dženita Viteškić, the minister's assistant, also a ZNG cadre, is among the suspects.
At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, Patria published several articles about the public calls for employment in the Ministry of Higher Education, and one of those hired was supposed to be Arijana Turković. She was engaged on a contract basis from the very beginning of Minister Mesihović's mandate, and eventually, one of the three positions was announced for her. Turković was also on the ZNG lists in the previous General Elections.
During yesterday's hearing, it was revealed that questions for the written part of the competition procedure were found in Arijana Turković's planner, and she scored the maximum number of points.
The day before this hearing, a press release was published on the ZNG Facebook page in which "Professors Mesihović and Obhođaš" are being absolved of any responsibility. Obhođaš is also a member of the Management Board of the KS Employment Service, headed by Amina Džonlagić, also a ZNG cadre. This political party, with a very modest parliamentary capacity (one of 35 representatives), has gained numerous positions, in addition to two ministries (higher education and finance), in cantonal institutions and companies. Thus, ZNG cadres have been appointed to Sarajevogas, the KS Employment Service, the KS Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Higher Education, management and supervisory boards... Obhođaš was also a candidate for the director of the Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance of BiH, but that competition was annulled.
In their statement, signed by the ZNG Management Board, they state that they did not comment in the previous month solely out of respect for the independence of judicial institutions, on which they did not want to exert any political pressure with their statements.
“Now, almost a month later, we continue to reiterate that we respect and support the work of the competent judicial institutions, but also that we expect them to respect the rights of Professor Mesihović and Professor Obhođaš to a fair, legally prescribed, defense process. In this regard, we were very surprised when we learned from the media that the transfer of a civil servant from one ministry to another is presented as a potential criminal offense. We point out that in this case, it is not about any new employment, but that the said civil servant was a permanent employee of the Government of Sarajevo Canton long before our political movement was founded, and long before Professor Mesihović became a minister,” the statement reads.
After yesterday's hearing, it is clear that this is not the only accusation against Mesihović, but that it involves multiple individuals and various positions and actions taken to enable them to be employed/transferred or appointed to a position.
However, ZNG went a step further and invited the media and official institutions to analyze how many such transfers have been realized through institutions in Sarajevo Canton, at the level of the Federation of BiH or in state institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past 10 years, as well as how many such processes are currently underway.
In their statement, they further comment on the actions of the KS Prosecutor's Office and the prosecutor, assessing that by now they could have "concluded all investigative actions that would potentially limit the release of Professor Mesihović and Professor Obhođaš to prove their innocence while at liberty."
Finally, as usual, they attacked the media, expressing respect for those who "objectively and accurately convey information based solely on facts and condemning any sensationalism and spread of falsehoods by 'politically/financially independent companies' that falsely present themselves as 'independent media houses' in the hope that their illegal activities will soon also come under the scrutiny of judicial bodies."
What is interesting from yesterday's hearing, and which was clarified by Minister Mesihović's defense, is that she learned about an investigation from a media article in February. The KS Prosecutor's Office confirmed to Patria in February that they were verifying information regarding work contracts and public calls in the Ministry of Higher Education. Given that Mesihović's defense claims she only learned about the "investigation" then, the question is why Mesihović continued with all activities and why she did not proactively make herself available to the investigative bodies and resolve all dilemmas before being arrested in April.
We remind you that ZNG entered the KS Government by the will of the president of NIP, Elmedin Konaković, who personally led negotiations with Marjanović before the reconstruction of the KS Government in November 2023. It is known that Marjanović has had an affinity for the higher education sector in KS for years, so it is not surprising why he sought this particular portfolio. However, Minister Mesihović's relationship, coincidentally or not, deteriorated towards UNSA after the election of UNSA rector Tarik Zaimović. The entire case ended up in court, with mutual reports and even a blockade of salary payments for 2,700 UNSA employees in December.
However, this is not the first illegality associated with the ZNG political initiative. Before the 2024 local elections, the Central Election Commission of BiH, while verifying the submitted signatures of ZNG for the Municipality of Novo Sarajevo, noticed irregularities and their candidacy was rejected. Marjanović then formed a coalition with Mirsad Hadžikadić's Platform for Progress, and in Novo Sarajevo, the list "Progres za nove generacije" was certified, with Afan Kalamujić, the Minister of Finance, as the candidate for mayor. According to Patria's information, that case has been handed over to the competent judicial authorities. Patria has received confirmation of this information:
"The Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the verification of the application for certification of the political entity For New Generations (code 03056) to participate in the 2024 Local Elections, determined that among the support signatures, including those for the Electoral Unit Novo Sarajevo, there were identical handwritten signatures of voters, clearly written by the same persons, with the same handwriting.
In this regard, the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in accordance with the provisions of Article 6.8 paragraph (1) of the Election Law of BiH, submitted the application with accompanying documentation, act, number: 05-1-07-5-1806-1/24 dated 27.08.2024, to the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of Sarajevo Canton for competent handling," the CIK's response states.
Malić Hećo won a mandate in the Municipal Council Novo Sarajevo from this new coalition, who at one of the first sessions of the Municipal Council informed the Council that he would act as an independent councilor.
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