Political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina surreptitiously swap seats on the committees that oversee polling stations, and although it’s not illegal, it allows them to influence the vote count on election day to their own advantage.
Political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina surreptitiously swap seats on the committees that oversee polling stations, allowing them to influence the vote count on election day to their own advantage – and it’s not illegal.
The abuse of office trial of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s former chief state prosecutor, Goran Salihovic, opened in Sarajevo with the defendant describing the case against him as a “witch hunt”.
The trial of Goran Salihovic opened at the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo on Tuesday, with the former chief prosecutor accused of spending around 41,000 euros of money that were earmarked for exhumations, interviews with witnesses and court experts in restaurants in Bosnia and on trips abroad.
He is alleged to have committed the offence from early February 2013 to September 28, 2016.
A second count alleges that on April 29, 2015, he travelled with his associates and a companion from the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies to a counter-terrorism conference in Paris in order to take a sightseeing tour of the city.
Despite warnings, they were late and missed their flight, for which they had return tickets. This resulted in the purchase of new tickets, which Salihovic paid for with his own money, but on his return, he told his employers to refund around 1,980 euros to him, the indictment claims.
Salihovic rejected the indictment as “unclear” and said he did not abuse his position.
“There was no breaching of limits or budget… These facts came out from an audit report, as well as from experts’ findings,” he said.
Prosecutor Amra Mehmedic insisted however that witnesses would “speak about the defendant’s arbitrariness and arrogance in doing his job and his arbitrary disregard for warnings from employees”.
Denying the charges, Salihovic said he did not intentionally miss his flight back from Paris, but was delayed by a security check on his bodyguard.
“This is a witch hunt. It is shameful that a chief prosecutor is treated in this way,” he said.
“This is a show trial, a Kafka case,” he added.
The first prosecution witnesses in the trial will be heard on February 14.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has filed an indictment against former security minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Mektic and three other persons for corruptive acts causing damage totalling more than KM 240,000.
The Prosecution has charged Dragan Mektic, Igor Golijanin, Samir Agic and Edin Garaplija with abuse of a position during the implementation of an interstate project on cross-border cooperation in the field of fire fighting, which was financed by the European Union’s Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Prosecution announced that the Project covered procurement of fire fighting equipment, recruitment of human resources, as well as purchase of materials from persons and close relatives coupled with an interest, through which unlawful proceeds were obtained.
As announced by the Prosecution, the project was worth Euro 198,454, while the total damage incurred amounted to KM 244,764.
Mektic has been charged with having abused the dominant position of security minister, which he performed until recently. It is further alleged that Golijanin has been charged in his capacity as chief of cabinet, and Agic as assistant minister, while Garaplija has been accused as a responsible person and owner of the Institute for Fire and Explosion Protection from Sarajevo.
The announcement indicates that the defendants committed “high-level corruption”, which damages the international reputation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They have been charged with gross violations of the Law on Public Procurement, Law on Conflict of Interest in Governmental Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Law on Ministries and other Bodies of Administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Law on Civil Service in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and internal regulations of the Bosnian Security Ministry.
As announced, the Prosecution opened the investigation following a report filed by the Federal Police Administration.
According to the announcement, the Prosecution plans to prove the allegations from the indictment through the examination of 31 witnesses and presentation of 140 pieces of material evidence.
Over the course of this year the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has filed eight indictments against 23 individuals for corrupt acts, while the State Court has passed down six verdicts, including five convictions, following guilt admission agreements - the data collected by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Bosnia and Herzegovina, BIRN BiH, suggest.
Internetska stranica “Aleja snajpera” nastoji napraviti fotoarhiv kao trajni zapis o ratnoj opsadi Sarajeva, omogućiti bh. građanima pristup fotografijama iz tog perioda i pomoći njenom osnivaču da pronađe fotografije svog ubijenog brata.
Internetska stranica “Aleja snajpera” pokušava objediniti sve ratne fotografije Sarajeva, a za njenog pokretača Džemila Hodžića, kome je bilo devet godina na početku rata, ovaj projekat bi mogao biti način da pronađe još fotografija i anegdota o svom starijem bratu Amelu, koji je kao šesnaestogodišnjak ubijen u maju 1995.
On je – prema podacima nevladinih organizacija i udruženja žrtava, dok zvanični podaci ne postoje – jedan od ukupno 1.601 dječaka i djevojčice koji su izgubili živote tokom opsade.
“Kroz ovaj projekat i svoju priču pokrenuo sam potragu za bilo kakvim fotografijama mog brata Amela, pa koristim ovu priliku da apelujem na sve one koji možda imaju neku njegovu sliku, neku priču, da to podijele sa mnom”, govori Hodžić pozivajući ljude da ga kontaktiraju putem stranice “Aleja snajpera”.
Džemil i Amel Hodžić. Izvor: Privatna arhiva
U njegovoj ličnoj priči na toj stranici Hodžić piše o prekinutom djetinjstvu i smrti brata. Priznaje da je za njega to bio težak zadatak.
“Držao sam to u sebi toliko godina (…) kao da me je bilo stid da pričam o svojoj ličnoj tragediji, jer je bilo toliko drugih”, objašnjava on.
“Na kraju, teško je naći ikoga da nije patio [u ratu]”, dodaje.
Takva prisjećanja mogu biti bolna, ali Hodžić insistira da ih je važno dokumentovati.
“Važni su detalji – svaka anegdota, svaka slika, svaki omot čokolade, sve su to djelići šire slike nas koji smo preživjeli rat, opsadu”, kaže Hodžić.
“Ne želim da osuđujem nikoga, ali volio bih pozvati ljude da pišu, čak i ako to urade anonimno. Bilo šta, bilo kad. Ja sam odlučio da pišem i moram priznati da mi to pomaže”, dodaje on.
Džemil Hodžić. Izvor: Privatna arhiva
Rijetke ratne fotografije
Stranica “Aleja snajpera” je pokušaj prikupljanja i čuvanja svih fotografija iz ratnog Sarajeva na jednom mjestu, uz uspostavu trajnog izvora koji će biti lako dostupan svima koji žele naći fotografije iz 90-ih godina prošlog stoljeća, kada je glavni grad Bosne i Hercegovine bio pod opsadom.
“Kao što možete primijetiti, na društvenim medijima Facebooku i Instagramu postoje mnoge grupe koje objavljuju tu vrstu materijala koji bi trebalo arhivirati, jer ako neko odluči da zatvori tu stranicu, one će nestati”, kaže za Balkansku istraživačku mrežu (BIRN) osnivač stranice Džemil Hodžić, koji sada živi i radi u Kataru.
Mnoge od tih online grupa su jedino mjesto gdje Sarajlije mogu pronaći svoje ili fotografije članova svojih porodica snimljene za vrijeme najduže opsade nekog evropskog grada u savremenoj historiji.
Te online grupe je teško pretraživati, a većina ih ne navodi precizne izvore fotografija ili tačne informacije, zbog čega je Hodžić u augustu ove godine odlučio da uz određenu pomoć svojih prijatelja pokrene stranicu “Aleja snajpera”.
“Nemam nikakvih fotografija odrastanja za vrijeme rata u Sarajevu, jer nismo imali mogućnosti [da ih napravimo], niti bilo ko od moje rodbine, i to je nešto o čemu stalno razmišljam”, kaže on.
“Smeta mi što nemam nikakve školske, rođendanske ili porodične fotografije iz tog razdoblja. Jedna jedina fotografija iz tog vremena bi me beskrajno obradovala”, napisao je Hodžić u svojoj ličnoj priči na stranici “Aleja snajpera”.
On je u kontaktu s mnogim ratnim fotografima koji su u to vrijeme bili u Sarajevu i drugim dijelovima BiH, i navodi da je dosta njih voljno dati svoj doprinos projektu.
Djeca u ratnom Sarajevu. Izvor: Sniper Alley, Derek Hudson
Baština istine
Zbog različitih tumačenja ratne historije zemlje usljed etničkih podjela i negiranja ratnih zločina, važno je da oni koji su preživjeli sukob istinito ispričaju svoje priče, kaže Hodžić.
“Ne možemo dozvoliti da neko mijenja istoriju, da nanovo piše udžbenike i da nas tjera da prihvatamo njegovu izvrnutu priču”, tvrdi on.
Buduće generacije, dodaje Hodžić, moraju naslijediti baštinu istine i jasne činjenice o ratu.
“Ponavljanje priče je jedini način da se uzvrati fašistima i ratnim zločincima”, kaže on.
Protiv direktno odgovornih za ubistva i ranjavanja hiljada Sarajlija tokom opsade grada, pred Tužilaštvom BiH nikada nije podignuta nijedna optužnica, o čemu je BIRN BiH ranije pisao.
Haški tribunal je Stanislava Galića proglasio krivim za kampanju terorisanja civila u Sarajevu u periodu od 1992. do 1994. godine, dok je bio komdandant Sarajevsko-romanijskog korpusa Vojske Republike Srpske (VRS).
U Haagu je, osim Galića, za terorisanje građana Sarajeva osuđen i njegov nasljednik na poziciji komandanta Sarajevsko-romanijskog korpusa VRS-a Dragomir Milošević.
Za kampanju terora nad civilima snajperskim i artiljerijskim napadima osuđeni su i bivši politički i vojni vođa Republike Srpske – Radovan Karadžić pravosnažno i Ratko Mladić prvostepeno.
Izvor: Sniper Alley, Enrico Dagnino
Hodžić i dalje posjećuje Sarajevo i to uglavnom tokom ljeta, te kaže da je njegov primarni osjećaj o rodnom gradu – ponos.
“Sarajevo samo po sebi predstavlja ponos (…) Koliko god čudno i neshvatljivo zvučalo, ja podignem glavu pred spomenikom ubijenoj djeci, gdje je i ime moga brata. Ponosno pokažem urezano ime svom sinu, koji se zove isto kao moj brat”, objašnjava on.
“Ponosan sam na sve one koji su izgubili živote za naš grad. Vojnike. Bolničare. Novinare. Djecu. Roditelje. Fotografe. Ovaj grad zna kako da cijeni one koji ga vole.”
Više informacija o “Aleji snajpera” dostupno je ovdje. Još slika fotografa čiji se radovi pojavljuju u ovom članku dostupno je ovdje i ovdje.
Bosnian Serb ruling party officials and their aides have close and deepening ties to Russian nationalists involved in the war in eastern Ukraine and in promoting the image of Serbs who fight there illegally.
Bosnia's state Investigation agency has accused nine people of committing election fraud in the general elections in October 2018 in the Brcko area, BIRN Bosnia can reveal.
The watchdog organisation Transparency International's latest annual report on perceived corruption around the world has given the Balkan countries low scores.
