BOSNIA: RS GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES PLANS TO APPEAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 001789

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR (JONES) AND EUR/SCE (HYLAND, FOOKS,
STINCHCOMB),INL (MARNEY); NSC FOR HELGERSON; OSD FOR BEIN;
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FOR OPDAT (ALEXANDRE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PHUM KDEM KJUS KCRM BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: RS GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES PLANS TO APPEAL
STATE COURT'S TEMPORARY SEIZURE ORDER

REF: SARAJEVO 1738 AND PRIOR

Classified By: CDA JUDITH B. CEFKIN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C/NF) On November 20, contacts at the State Prosecutor's
Office told us that the RS government has not yet complied
with the temporary seizure order that was requested by the
State Prosecutor's Office for its preliminary investigation
into corruption associated with RS government building and
other contracts. Although the State Investigative and
Protective Agency (SIPA) investigators who delivered the
temporary seizure orders to the various RS government
ministries have heard informally that the RS government plans
to submit all the requested documents on November 26, RS
officials have made such promises in the past which they have
not fulfilled. The SIPA officials also heard that the RS
government plans to appeal the State Court's decision to
grant the temporary seizure order with the State Court
appeals chamber on November 25. (Note: The RS government's
appeal will not relieve it of its obligation to comply with
the temporary seizure order. End Note)


2. (U) On November 21, the press reported that RS Minister
of Justice Dzerard Selman had publicly announced the RS
government's plans to appeal the State Court's decision to
grant the State Prosecutor's request for a temporary seizure
order. Minister Selman reiterated the RS government's
position that it is the RS judicial authorities, not the
State Court and the State Prosecutor's Office, that have
jurisdiction in the matter. He detailed the government's
position in a lengthy October 18 letter to the State
Prosecutor's Office that was released by his ministry to the
press. In the letter, Minister Selman maintained that the
State Prosecutor's Office did not establish the grounds on
which it claimed jurisdiction in the matter.


3. (C) In his letter, Minister Selman, described the RS
government as trying to follow the rule of law. He said that
the RS had raised legitimate questions about the State
Prosecutor's jurisdiction, and had repeatedly tried to
cooperate with the State Prosecutor's Office, which had
rebuffed its efforts. Minister Selman ignored the fact that
1) it is the State Court and ultimately the BiH
Constitutional Court that determines jurisdiction, not the
RS; and, 2) The State Prosecutor's Office is not obliged to
share details about its investigation with RS authorities.


4. (U) Also on November 21, the press reported that PM Dodik
had publicly announced his government's intention to file
charges against foreign prosecutors working on the
investigation, the judge that approved the temporary seizure
order, and other individuals involved in the process. They
would be charged with engaging in a "criminal enterprise
against the RS." Dodik reiterated the RS government charge
that the investigation by the State Prosecutor's Office is a
politically-motivated plot against the RS. He said that the
State Prosecutor's Office was carrying out the orders of the
Office of the High Representative or "some other structures."
That evening, two television channels reported that the RS
government plans to file charges against the Deputy High
Representative, the foreign prosecutor involved in the case,
Acting Chief Prosecutor Milorad Barasin, an FTV reporter
based in Banja Luka, and an NGO representative.


5. (U) In response to these developments, the Office of the
High Representative (OHR) issued a statement that evening
pointing out that PM Dodik had made many unfulfilled promises
regarding this matter, including those he had recently made
to the Peace Implementation Council. We also issued a
statement in support of OHR that evening. The text is as
follows:

The US Government fully supports the OHR's call for Prime
Minister Dodik to comply completely and unconditionally with
any court order to submit documentation to the State
Prosecutor's Office, as he fully agreed to do at the PIC
meeting in Brussels.

The rule of law must be respected. PM Dodik's attacks on the

SARAJEVO 00001789 002 OF 002


institutions of justice and on local and international
officials designed with the specific intent to obstruct the
rule of law and delay the legal process are unacceptable,
outrageous, and undermine the credibility of RS institutions.

CEFKIN