Ten associations of victims sent a request to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina to initiate disciplinary proceedings and dismiss the chief prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milanko Kajganić, due to, as they claim, serious violations of official duties.
It was pointed out that according to the Law on the HJPC of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the chief prosecutor is subject to disciplinary responsibility like any other prosecutor, and, due to the weight and importance of the function he performs, a particularly high degree of responsibility, professionalism and lawful behavior is required of him.
Among the reasons for the dismissal are obstruction in the application of the law – selective treatment and lack of reaction in cases of public interest; delay in investigative actions – numerous cases of war crimes remain for years in the phase of preliminary investigations without explanation; and failure to file charges – especially for the siege of Sarajevo and other documented war crimes, which has direct consequences for the rights of the victims and the international obligations of BiH.
The reasons are also the violation of victims’ dignity – failure to act in sensitive cases deepens retraumatization and denies the right to justice, as well as ignoring cases of denial of war crimes and glorification of convicted war criminals, such as the mural of Ratko Mladić in Banja Luka and the memorial plaque in Vraca, where the Prosecutor’s Office did not open an investigation despite grounds for suspicion.
The applicants point out that such omissions represent a serious professional and institutional responsibility of the chief prosecutor, and demand the HJPC of BiH to urgently initiate disciplinary proceedings and carry out his dismissal.
The request was submitted by the “Mother Enclaves of Srebrenica and Žepa” Association, the “Zena Podrinja” Association, the Association of Mothers of Srebrenica, the Association of Women of Srebrenica, the Association of Parents of Killed Children of the Siege of Sarajevo in 1992-1995, the Union of Civilian Victims of the War of KS, the Union of Civilian Victims of the FBiH War, the Association of Families of Victims Killed in Ubork and Sutina, the Bosniak-American National Association, and the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide, it was stated in the joint announcement.
