BOSNIA - HIGHREP LAJCAK USES BONN POWERS AGAINST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000953 SIPDIS EUR (DICARLO),EUR/SCE(HOH, FOOKS, STINCHCOMB),S/WCI (WILLIAMSON, LAVINE, VIBEL),CA/VO/F/P; NSC FOR BRAUN; OSD FOR BEIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KCRM CVIS BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA - HIGHREP LAJCAK USES BONN POWERS AGAINST PIFWC SUPPORTERS REF: A. 07 SARAJEVO 1317 ¶B. 07 SARAJEVO 64 Classified By: MICHAEL J. MURPHY FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (U) See action request in paragraph 7. ¶2. (C) Summary. In coordination with the International Criminal Tribunal for War Crimes (ICTY),High Representative Miroslav Lajcak announced two seperate Bonn Powers decisions on May 30 targeting ICTY indictee Stojan Zupljanin. He ordered RS police to seize the Bosnian passports and CIPS identification documents of sixteen individuals linked to the Zupljanin support network. He also ordered the removal of Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA) officer Predrag Ceranic due to his ties to the Zupljanin network. OHR briefed RS PM Milorad Dodik and RS MUP Director Stanislav Cadjo in advance of the decision. RS officials have complied with the decision. End Summary. ¶3. (C) Acting on a request by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY),HighRep Lajcak used his Bonn Powers on May 30 to order RS police officials to seize passports and other identification documents from sixteen individuals who are part of a network supporting ICTY indictee Stojan Zupljanin. All sixteen individuals reside in Republika Srpska and are mostly Zupljanin,s relatives or business associates. OHR and ICTY representatives hoped that by disrupting the ability of these individuals to travel, they would increase pressure on Zupljanin to surrender, but acknowledge that the sixteen individuals may still be able to travel using passports from other countries such as Serbia. ¶4. (C) In a separate but simultaneous decision, Lajcak effected a Bonn Powers removal of intelligence officer Predrag Ceranic from the Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA) due to his ties to Zupljanin. Ceranic had previously been passed over for reemployment with OSA following reform of the intelligence services, but was reinstated after winning a court case against the government. His supporters on the Joint Parliamentary Intelligence Committee pressured OSA to give him a position with access to classified information in the War Crimes division, though he lacked a security clearance. HighRep Lajcak stated publicly that Ceranic,s removal was necessary to ensure that OSA,s work with the ICTY would not be compromised. He pointed out that, "Zupljanin,s flight just 24 hours before his safe house was raided shows that indicted war criminals are receiving information on the efforts to bring them to justice." ¶5. (U) During a June 2 press conference in Banja Luka, Ceranic denied that he was part of Zupljanin,s support network. He insisted that he was being targeted because he had been pointing out mistakes made in war crimes investigations and accused OSA Deputy Director Risto Zaric of being complicit in war crimes. Ceranic stated that a 1998 photo of him with Zupljanin -- part of the evidence against him -- was taken a year before Zupljanin was indicted by the ICTY. He also noted that the other two individuals in the photo, Milos Prica and Stanislav Cadjo, retain senior positions in government; Prica is Bosnia,s ambassador to the UN, while Cadjo is the Republika Srpska Minister of Interior. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) Republika Srpska officials complied with the High Representative's order with no opposition. There have been no public expressions of support from Serb p