Until the end of January 2024, five state judges and prosecutors collected hundreds of thousands of BAM from the State Court and Prosecutor’s Office during their suspension. State Court President Ranko Debevec, Judge Dalida Burzic, as well as prosecutors Goran Salihovic, Bozo Mihajlovic, and Diana Kajmakovic were removed from duty due to criminal investigations or proceedings initiated against them.
According to collected data, they received 822.000 BAM in salaries during their suspension. These costs are accumulating, while in some cases, investigations last for months and trials for years – without effective conclusions.
According to the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Court data, Dalida Burzic received 98.685 BAM from September 2nd, 2022, to January 25th, 2024. During his still brief suspension from the position of President of the State Court, Ranko Debevec received 8.701 BAM from December 21st, 2023, to January 25th, 2024.
The Prosecutor’s Office did not provide the exact amounts paid to the three suspended prosecutors. They explained that suspended prosecutors received salaries in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Salaries and Allowances in Judicial and Prosecutorial Institutions at the level of BiH, starting from the day of temporary removal from prosecutor duties.
One of the longest-suspended judicial officials is former Chief Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, Goran Salihovic, who, according to the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of BiH data, has been suspended since September 2016.
From then until February 2024, Salihovic received at least 342.200 BAM in basic salary.
The BiH Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Salihovic in November 2018, charging him with obtaining material gain exceeding 80.000 BAM, that is, that he was acting contrary to the decision on the conditions and manner of using funds for representation and gifts, as Chief Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor’s Office from February 2013 to September 2016, exceeding the monthly spending limit both domestically and abroad.
Another suspended prosecutor with the second longest suspension period is state prosecutor Bozo Mihajlovic, who received at least 315.400 BAM in basic salary until February this year.
Mihajlovic has been temporarily removed from office since March 2017, when the Disciplinary Prosecutor’s Office requested his suspension due to a criminal investigation for negligent work in the service initiated against him.
BiH State Court President Ranko Debevec was suspended on December 21st, 2023, and is under investigation for illegal wiretapping. He was arrested on December 18th along with Osman Mehmedagic, former Director of the Intelligence-Security Agency of BiH (OSA BiH), for abuse of office, at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office.
The BiH Court stated that Debevec received 8.701 BAM from December 21st, 2023, to January 25th, 2024.
The long suspensions of some prosecutors were also highlighted in the Audit Report for 2022, which stated that “The Prosecutor’s Office cannot influence the duration of proceedings before the Court. However, we note the fact that, in accordance with the valid decisions, these prosecutors receive all rights from employment, i.e., receive full salary while under suspension.”
They similarly noted for the State Court, emphasizing that “in accordance with the valid decisions, the mentioned judge receives all rights from employment, i.e., receives full salary while under suspension.”, Detektor writes.
