Zoran Galić testified at Raković's trial: The Commission for Cadet Admissions comprised the best police officers

(Patria) - At the trial of Rejhan Raković and others, who are charged before the State Court with corruption in employment within the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina and illegally demanding and receiving money from candidates, witness Zoran Galić stated that there was significant pressure to annul the public call.

Director of the BiH Border Police Zoran Galić explained that in 2020, together with his assistant and deputy, he formed a Commission for Cadet Admissions, electing Rejhan Raković as president, Ivica Sablja and Đorđe Kusmuk as members, and Mirsada Alić as secretary, along with two members from the Ministry of Security of BiH, writes Detektor.

"A commission was formed from the best police officers who had proven themselves in their work and fight against crime. Once the commission is appointed, the rest of the work is up to them. They announce the public call and do the rest," said Galić.

Galić further explained in his testimony that the commission's main tasks were conducting written and physical tests for the applicants, in which, due to the workload, a sub-commission appointed by the director upon the proposal of the commission president participates, and that at the end, security and health checks are performed for the candidates who pass. As the director of the Border Police, Galić said that he would only initial the test with questions for the competition procedure proposed by the commission a few hours before.

When asked by prosecutor Bojana Jolović, he stated that there were no specific complaints about the commission's work, but that he, along with his deputies Fahrudin Halač and Dragan Kulić, organized a meeting with Raković, who told him he was under pressure, to support the commission.

"Media started writing that the competition would be rigged. I organized a meeting to break down all the pressure and said that I wanted the process to proceed with full legality," said Galić, adding that Raković had external pressures.

Galić described Raković as the best police officer in BiH, who was to be promoted to the rank of general inspector in three months.

After Raković was arrested, Galić said he faced pressure from all sides to annul the competition, as the media reported that the accused was bringing him money. Galić stated that annulling the competition would be against the law, and that the "fate of the competition is in the hands of the Police Committee," which reviews the received appeals.

Rejhan Raković, Ensar Salčinović, and Kenit Čakić are charged with association for the purpose of committing criminal offenses, and receiving gifts and other benefits. Čakić is also charged with giving gifts and other benefits. According to the indictment, Raković, in the period from November 2020 to September 24, 2021, in his capacity as an official, as a police officer of the Border Police, associated with a group of police officers from the same institution, Salčinović, and Čakić, with whom he is friends. They are accused of demanding and receiving money from candidates who applied for jobs in the Border Police.

Đorđe Kusmuk, commander of the Border Police of BiH Oversight Unit and member of the Cadet Admissions Commission, stated that in 2020, a public call was issued for the admission of 125 police officers and 25 junior inspectors. 2,500 candidates applied for the competition, and 1,950 of them met the application requirements.

The commission members, Kusmuk explained, prepared separate tests of 30 questions for police officers and junior inspectors, as well as essay questions. These tests were printed, put into envelopes, and placed in large boxes, sealed with security tape, in a small room on the fourth floor of the Border Police building, where the commission worked, and the key was held by the commission secretary.

After the written testing was completed, the tests were placed back into boxes and returned to the small room, the key to which was held by the commission secretary, Kusmuk explained. The review and scoring were carried out by all commission members. Each candidate had a unique code, under which their score was entered into a table. The physical fitness tests were conducted by a sub-commission in Mostar, which entered the aggregate results into a form, Kusmuk explained.

Prosecutor Jolović asked Kusmuk how it was possible for one candidate's code to have two aggregate forms, to which he replied that it could happen that due to the workload, one form was reviewed and scored twice and not signed the first time.

Witness Mirsada Alić, an employee of the Administration Directorate in the Border Police and commission secretary, stated that she entered the candidates' scores into Excel tables after the interviews, which were the final part of the competition. Alić said she would enter the candidate's code and then the scores from the aggregate form.

When asked by prosecutor Jolović if she knew the name of candidate Kenan Rizvić, Alić said she did, because his mother had called the office several times asking for information about the competition, about which she had informed the commission members. Jolović then asked the witness how she entered the scores from two different aggregate forms for Rizvić into the table, to which she replied that she only entered the scores from one.

The trial will continue on January 26, when the defense of the accused will question witnesses Kusmuk and Alić.