BOSNIA - HIREP INZKO USES BONN POWERS TO REMOVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000687 NOFORN SIPDIS EUR/SCE (HYLAND, FOOKS); INL (CARROLL); NSC FOR HELGERSON; OSD FOR BEIN E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KDEM KCRM KJUS BK SUBJECT: BOSNIA - HIREP INZKO USES BONN POWERS TO REMOVE TWO POLICE OFFICIALS REF: A. SARAJEVO 240 ¶B. 08 SARAJEVO 1548 Classified By: CDA Judith B. Cefkin, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On June 8 OHR High Representative Valentine Inzko used the Bonn powers for the first time in his tenure in order to remove two police officials engaged in illegal activities, including reported illegal wiretapping against OHR officials. Inzko ordered the removal of Herzegovina-Nerveta Cantonal Police Commissioner Himzo Djonko (Bosniak) and State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) official Radoslav Jovicic (Serb). Although Bosniak and Croat politicians either remained silent or praised the move, Serb officials, especially Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik sharply criticized Inzko's actions. On the same day, OHR Supervisor for Brcko Raffi Gregorian banned certain private security agencies from working in the Brcko District. The Supervisor stated as the basis for this action that these agencies had conducted surveillance activities against the Supervisor and other international officials. End Summary. Inzko orders Two Removals -------------- ¶2. (S/NF) On June 8 OHR High Representative Valentine Inzko used the Bonn Powers to remove Herzegovina-Neretva Cantonal Police Commissioner Himzo Djonko and State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) Head of the Special Support Unit Radoslav Jovicic. Both were ordered to leave their positions and were barred from holding any official, elective or appointive public office until authorized to do so by the HiRep. As reasons for removing Djonko, the OHR Decision stated he did not meet the legal requirements for his position and had used falsified documents as part of his application package. Furthermore, Djonko abused his office by illegally appointing police officers to key positions in violation of legal criteria, launched politically motivated investigations against political opponents, and reportedly instructed others to threaten OHR staff with physical harm in an effort to obstruct an abuse of office investigation. (Note: The latter point refers to threats said to be made by a relative of Djonko over the phone against OHR personnel. End Note) ¶3. (S/NF) The OHR decision to remove Jovicic states that he operated outside of the legal chain of command within SIPA, which undermined the lawful functioning of the agency and has used SIPA personnel and resources to conduct surveillance of the OHR High Representative and his staff. According to OHR, Jovicic also lacks the necessary qualifications for his current position and was selected based on political rather than legal criteria. The decision also asserts that there are credible allegations that Jovicic has taken payments in return for revealing confidential information and should no longer have access to such information. We have reported in the past on credible allegations that Jovicic had been inserted in his previous position at SIPA at the request of Republika Srpska (RS) Prime Minister Dodik's security staff and had been misusing surveillance equipment and SIPA personnel in efforts to prevent investigations against Dodik. (Ref A) Reactions to the Removals -------------- ¶4. (SBU) While Bosniak parties so far remained quiet about the removal of Djonko (Bosniak),Republika Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik sharply criticized the removals and voiced support for Jovicic. Dodik characterized Jovicic's removal as the expulsion of Serbs from BiH institutions and blamed PDHR Raffi Gregorian and his claims of illegal wiretapping for Jovicic's removal. Dodik argued that the removals of Jovicic and Djonko were unacceptable and that "nowhere in the world are people removed without due process" and that "I do not want to live in such a state." On the other hand Branko Zrno (Croat),Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security, characterized Inzko's action as perfectly logical and declared his intention to have his committee seek a full SARAJEVO 00000687 002 OF 002 report from SIPA on the HiRep's allegations. Brcko Supervisor Bans Select Private Security Firms -------------- -------------- ¶5. (S/NF) On June 8 OHR Supervisor for the Brcko District Raffi Gregorian issued an order banning several private security agencies, including "Alpha Security," from operating in the District for the next five years. The order accused members of Alpha of engaging in illegal intelligence operations against the Supervisor as well as OHR and the Brcko Final Award Office Staff. None of the prohibited firms are currently egistered as security agencies in the Brcko Distrct courts or Brcko District police. The order aso prohibits another associated agency, Centurio Security, from expanding its current business i the District for five years. We have previously reported on allegations that RS PM Dodik has encouraged development of these private security firms as a possible para-military assets. (Ref B) CEFKIN