TRIAL

Mehmedagić declared private data a security threat

It is imperative that the data collected, which are not a threat to the security of B&H, to be destroyed immediately, but this time it was not done, said prosecutor Čavka

Mehmedagić: Abuse of service. M. Aščić

Piše: M. Aščić

The accused Osman Mehmedagić, Director of the Intelligence and Security Agency (ISA), illegally presented the information he needed for private purposes as a threat to the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This is stated, among other things, in the indictment of the Prosecutor's Office of B&H against Mehmedagić and Mumamed Pekić, ISA employees, who were tried in the Court of BiH yesterday for abuse of official position.


Criminal charge

In the introduction of the indictment, state prosecutor Oleg Čavka said that Mehmedagic privatized ISA and abused his position in order to determine for private purposes, and not in the interest of the service, who the anonymous applicant of the criminal charges against him was.

The Prosecution alleges that Mehmedagić illegally misrepresented the information he needed for private purposes as a threat to state security, and that this was a textbook example of abuse of office and use of the service for private interests.

Prosecutor Čavka said that the accused Mehmedagić, after learning about the existence of an anonymous report against him, contacted the director of "BH Post" Mirsad Mujić, and asked for the exclusion of surveillance camera footage from the "BH Post" office, stating that it was a matter of state security.

The indictment alleges that Pekić and Mehmedagić, after learning of the report, obtained a photograph of the envelope of the incoming shipment with the sticker of the "BH Post", with the exact recorded post office number and time of receipt of the shipment.

It was emphasized that, taking these actions, they did not inform the Chief Inspector Damir Bevanda at all, so Pekić contacted the General Director of "BH Post" Mirsad Mujić by phone.

- Pekić sent him a photo of the "BH Post" sticker via the WhatsApp application and demanded that he provide video surveillance footage from the post office in Alipašino Polje for August 27th, explaining the need to obtain such video surveillance footage to the interests of the service and state secret - said Čavka.

The prosecutor claims that Mujić believed these allegations and acted on the ISA's requests and delivered the requested material to Pekić via USB on the same day.

However, although Mehmedagić knew that, according to the ISA Law, the intelligence obtained did not contain a threat to the security of B&H, he illegally classified the information he needed for private purposes as a threat to the security of B&H and classified it as "Internal".


Political influence

- It is imperatively determined that the data that are collected, and are not a threat to the security of B&H, are immediately destroyed. This was not done this time, but abused. It is high time that such cases start to be clarified and the perpetrators punished - stated Čavka.

Mehmedagic's lawyer Senka Nožica said that this was a politically mounted indictment with the aim of removing Mehmedagic from the position of ISA director. But Čavka asked how this is possible for a person who by law must be a professional, without political influence.


Čampara, Korman, Selimović will testify

As proposed witnesses Aljoša Čampara, Federal Minister of Police, Nusret Selimović, Commissioner of Police of Sarajevo Canton, Ensad Korman, Deputy Director of FPA, Damir Bevanda, Trifko Buha, Sakib Vukovćc, ISA employees, but also Mirsad Mujić, director of "BH Post", as well as several employees of that state institution, will appear.

Bought an apartment for 300,000 KM

Yesterday, the second accused Pekić requested that his ex-officio lawyer be paid, which the Court accepted. In translation, the state will pay his lawyer for this trial from the people's money and budget.

But, as Čavka discovered, Pekić bought an apartment worth 300,000 KM in neighbourhood Marin Dvor in Sarajevo from the former coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team of Mehmed Baždarević.

In addition, he added, the financial investigation established that Pekić did not withdraw his salary from his account for a full year.