Zubac Misleads Public: SIPA Special Forces Had Obligation to Protect BiH Presidency Building

The continuation of the trial of SIPA Director Goran Zubac is scheduled for Friday, October 31, where Fahrudin Radončić, Nedeljko Škrba, Dragan Lukač, Dragan Golijanin, and Blažan Trgić will testify about the events of February 7, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

The BiH Prosecutor's Office accuses Zubac of dereliction of duty for refusing to provide requested assistance to the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies during the violent demonstrations on February 7 in Sarajevo.

He ignored the requests of the then Director of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH, Himzo Selimović, for assistance in protecting the BiH Presidency building and refused to deploy SIPA's special unit.

Judging by the proceedings so far and based on the statements of five witnesses for the BiH Prosecutor's Office, according to Patria's sources from this judicial institution, the entire case is being attempted to be brought to an absurd conclusion so that Zubac can avoid responsibility.

Namely, although Zubac's defense is trying in every way at the first hearing to convince the Court through classic substitution of theses that SIPA's Special Support Unit is not trained for riot control (which it is not, in essence), the fact that Selimović requested assistance from Zubac to protect the BiH Presidency building, which they are legally obliged to do, and not to confront the demonstrators, is intentionally omitted.

A Patria source from SIPA explains that the lawyers of the current SIPA director base the entire defense precisely on the argument that the special forces, then led by the current director of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies, Mirsad Vilić, are not trained for riots, but they consciously bypass the part of the legal obligation concerning the protection of the building itself.

- If Zubac had ordered Vilić to deploy the unit, he could have, for example, deployed some personnel by helicopter into the BiH Presidency building, protected it, without direct contact with the demonstrators. That part, i.e., riot control, is the legal obligation of members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton and the Federal Police Administration, our source states.

Incidentally, although three years ago, after the attack on the US Embassy in the USA, it became apparent that there was no cooperation between police agencies in BiH, the Agreement on Mutual Assistance and Operational Cooperation of Law Enforcement Agencies was only signed on June 10 this year by the Directorate, SIPA, the Border Police of BiH, FMUP, FUP, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton.

It is important to note that the adoption of this agreement was at one time sabotaged by the former Director of the Border Police of BiH, Vinko Dumančić, and Goran Zubac, which is one of the key arguments why on February 7, it was unclear "who was in charge".

Furthermore, it is questionable whether, as Zubac claims all along, he, as the director of SIPA, even needed an order from the BiH Prosecutor's Office to deploy the JSP, whose task includes protecting the BiH Presidency building.

WHAT WAS SAID AT THE FIRST HEARING

Čampara and Sarajlić

At the hearing on October 2, five witnesses for the BiH Prosecutor's Office were heard. Dubravko Čampara explained that on February 7, he was in contact with Saša Sarajlić, who was the duty prosecutor that day.

- I live very close to the BiH Presidency building and I saw what was happening, so I told Saša that an investigation could not be conducted because it was not safe. So, on February 7, we did not conduct an investigation, but the day after, with the Federal Police Administration, because no one from SIPA was responding. That was the information I had from the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH. As soon as I saw that the Presidency building was set on fire, I knew it was an act of terrorism – said Čampara.

Dragiša Jokić, Goran Zubac's lawyer, asked Čampara if he personally called his client to inform him about the current situation.

- I did not call him, because SIPA was supposed to be on site and inform us – said Čampara.

His colleague Saša Sarajlić said that he called Zubac on February 8, the day after the major unrest, but Zubac did not answer then.

- That did not surprise me, because I had seen him at a rally before and greeted him, and he just looked down on me. Then I realized that he clearly thought he was superior to me and would not respond to me – explained Sarajlić, adding that on February 7, he spoke with an official from the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies.

Mirsad Vilić

Mirsad Vilić, who at that time held the position of commander of SIPA's Special Support Unit, specified in his testimony that the members of this unit were assembled and acted exclusively on the orders of the SIPA director.

- Given all the events of that day, I spoke with Director Zubac at 3 PM to see what we would do. He told me that we did not have orders from the BiH Prosecutor's Office or the BiH Court to intervene. Later, I received a call from an official of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies who asked me if it was true that part of the unit was heading towards the Presidency building. I said that was not true and called the director again. I spoke with him at 4:50 PM, and he told me then that the members of the Special Unit were going home and to be on standby, and that he had not yet received an order to intervene. We only act on the director's orders – Vilić specified.

Himzo Selimović

Himzo Selimović, then director of the Directorate, stated that he tried to reach Zubac around 3:30 PM, and later sent a dispatch requesting assistance.

- Director Zubac then responded and said that they had no legal basis to act – said Selimović.

He added that Zubac did not explain anything, and that in the explanation of his resignation after the unfortunate events, he stated that this was one of the reasons, as he wanted to draw public attention to the need to amend or supplement certain legal provisions.

Josip Petrić

Commander of the Special Police Unit of the FUP, Josip Petrić, stated that they received an order from the FUP director, Dragan Lukač, at 4:25 PM to intervene, and that they completed their activities by 7 PM.

The indictment against Goran Zubac, among other things, states that the accused Zubac, as a public official in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, consciously violated laws and other regulations, and acted obviously negligently in the performance of his duties, resulting in property damage exceeding 10,000 KM. Zubac ignored the requests of the then Director of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH, Himzo Selimović, to deploy SIPA's Special Support Unit on February 7 to protect the BiH Presidency building.

Earlier, prosecutor Miroslav Marković stated that the estimated damage was 398,365.18 KM, and a total of 27 witnesses were announced.

Prosecutor's Office Warned: Political and Media Pressure in the "Zubac" Case

The BiH Prosecutor's Office (end of August) informs the public that state prosecutors have recently been under significant media and political pressure.

Prosecutors working on cases including Goran Zubac are under particularly high pressure. The BiH Prosecutor's Office tells all those exerting pressure that they are doing so in vain, as no prosecutor will overlook or protect anyone who has committed a criminal offense. The citizens and public of BiH are witnesses to the great efforts that prosecutors and the BiH Prosecutor's Office are making to establish the rule of law and fight against organized crime, corruption, and other criminal offenses. We will continue to work in the interest of citizens and the rule of law in accordance with the law on the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and no pressure will deter us from this, the Prosecutor's Office announced.