Zoran Tegeltija was sentenced to five months in prison

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is not uncommon for ministers or people holding some position in government to be former convicts or individuals with many criminal charges. Thus Zoran Tegeltija (SNSD), Minister of Finance of the Republika Srpska, has a verdict from the Basic Court in Banja Luka according to which he was finally sentenced to a suspended prison term of five months for negligent work in service.

- Namely, Tegeltija, as the head of the Sector for Customs Legal Affairs of the Customs Administration Banja Luka, seriously violated the rights of the company „Kondor-šped“ from Novi Grad by, without authorization, drafting an act in the form of a notice informing customs offices in the RS area that the operations of this company for international freight forwarding were temporarily suspended.

He justified this decision by writing that the giro account of „Kondor-šped“ was blocked. The appeal against this verdict was also rejected, so Tegeltija was on a suspended sentence. However, this did not prevent him from advancing in his career, and in accordance with legal provisions, he became a minister because his prison sentence was less than nine months.

The Vice President of the National Assembly of the RS and a member of the Presidency of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) Ramiz Salkić told NAP that the law unfortunately allows those with convictions to operate in high positions.

- Now it is another matter of moral dimension and certainly the distrust of citizens in such people who hold such important positions, but have any conviction for abuse of position or anything similar. This should be changed in the future and they should not be given space and opportunity to hold extremely important positions, although everyone should be given the right to work and to provide for their family – says Salkić.