Bosnia's Police Coordination Directorate denied protection to the country's top judicial official, Milan Tegeltija, who argued his safety was threatened following allegations of taking a bribe to look into a case.
“With regard to your request, the Directorate asked all police agencies in the country to urgently deliver any specific data and information about potential risks for your safety, and we received the responses of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), Tuzla Canton's Interior Ministry, Bosnia-Podrinje Canton's Interior Ministry and the Brcko District's Police saying that they do not have any information about risks to your security,” the Directorate stated in their response to Tegeltija.
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They added that the Directorate does not have concrete information regarding potential threats to Tegeltija's safety, and considering their competencies, they suggested Tegeltija turns to individual police departments with his requests.
Last week, Bosnian investigative news portal Zurnal published a text, saying they have a video allegedly showing Nermin Alesevic, a businessman from Bosnia's northern town of Velika Kladusa, giving some €1,000 to an officer called Marko Pandza, from the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) – Bosnia's special police.
Zurnal wrote that Pandza was allegedly supposed to give the money to Milan Tegeltija, the head of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) which appoints judges and prosecutors and disciplines them, who would then look into Alesevic's case.
Tegeltija denied the allegations as false and malicious, announcing a lawsuit against the portal for slander. He then requested protection from the Bosnia's Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies after Bosnia's Security Minister Dragan Mektic called for protests in front of the HJPC building in Sarajevo.
