Members of the Independent Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina are due to determine the rankings of candidates who have applied for the new director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) on Monday.
Interviews will be held with candidates who meet the requirements of a public competition for the election of a new SIPA director. Members of the Independent Committee considered in September the applications submitted to the SIPA director selection contest and found that of the five applicants, four were eligible.
It has been established that duly filed applications were sent by Perica Stanic, current director, Darko Culum, director of Republika Srpska Police, as well as Goran Zubac, former director of SIPA, and Zarko Laketa, current police chief from Trebinje.
The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) was established in 2002 upon the adoption of the Law on the Agency for Information and Protection defining the Agency as an independent institution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) in charge of collection and processing of information of interest for implementation of international laws and B&H Criminal Codes, as well as for protection of VIPs, diplomatic and consular missions and government institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In June 2004, after the adoption of the Law on the State Investigation and Protection Agency, the Information and Protection Agency was transformed into the State Investigation and Protection Agency, becoming the first police agency with full police authorizations and competences across the entire B&H territory.
This moment marks the beginning of the true development of SIPA and strengthening of its operational capacity. This Law defines SIPA as an operatively independent administrative organization within the Ministry of Security of B&H whose competencies include prevention, detection, and investigation of criminal offences falling within jurisdiction of the Court of B&H, particularly organised crime, terrorism, war crimes, human trafficking and other criminal offences against humanity and values protected under international laws, serious financial crimes, physical and technical protection of persons and buildings, protection of endangered and threatened witnesses as well as other duties falling within its competence as prescribed by the Law.
In accordance with the changes to the police structures in B&H and the adoption of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the State Investigation and Protection Agency, tasks and duties pertaining to the protection of persons and facilities have been transferred under the competence of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies in B&H as of the beginning of 2011.
SIPA’s operations of apprehension of war crime suspects, successful investigations of criminal offences of money laundering, organized crime, terrorism, unauthorised trafficking in drugs, illicit trafficking in weapons, human trafficking and other criminal offences, as well as providing witness support and protection, successful performance of duties and tasks related to protection of VIPs and buildings, establishment of the Special Support Unit, are only some of the facts confirming SIPA’s achievements to date.
