Bosnia’s Security Minister Dragan Mektic is under investigation after the Prosecution found evidence of abuse of office or authority, the disclosure of classified information and giving false testimony, the Prosecution said on Friday.
“Based on the evidence we collected so far, we have reason to suspect that Dragan Mektic, as State Security Minister, received some information and then disclosed them to a number of unauthorised individuals, despite knowing the information is confidential,” the Prosecution said.
They added that Mektic also gave a false statement to the State Prosecution, resulting in harmful consequences for the security, rule of law and Bosnia’s image in the world.
“You’ve heard that the Prosecution opened an investigation against me. I want to praise the Prosecution for being able to gather strength to start working. Unfortunately, it turns out that they can work only when their interests are at stake,” Security Minister Dragan Mektic said at a press conference on Friday.
Mektic added that “private interests and family ties lead the Prosecution.”
He asked how he could have disclosed any information if the prosecution ended the investigation because they could not find anything.
The Prosecution said, on Wednesday, they halted the probe against three individuals who were supposed to be involved in an alleged Croatian spy affair which was first discovered by an investigative portal ‘Zurnal.’
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According to ‘Zurnal,’ Croatian intelligence agency allegedly contacted several Bosnian Muslims, asking them to transfer some firearms to local masjids (Muslim places of worship), which would then be discovered in a tip-off to the local police.
When the news broke, Mektic speculated that this could be aimed at proving the claims by Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, the Croatian president, who repeatedly said that Bosnia is a terrorist hub.
According to the ‘Zurnal,’ journalist Avdo Avdic, two out of three persons Zurnal named as the main suspects in their story, are related to the Chief Public Prosecutor Gordana Tadic.
“How can they explain the fact that two days ago, they stopped an investigation in this case, and opened a new one – against me, for disclosing secrets,” Mektic asked.
“What was the secret that I disclosed, if the case was empty? Their contradiction says it all.”
Mektic also said that the prosecution spent the last four years looking for ways to, allegedly, get to him because he was critical of their work
“They think they will silence me with this pathetic investigation? No, they won’t,” he stressed, adding it is high time that the Prosecution’s alleged crimes and corruption come to an end.
