Laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina are the same for all citizens, the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina said commenting on the arrest of President of the Court of BiH Ranko Debevec and former intelligence chief Osman Mehmedagic, stressing that the investigation into this case is an important step forward in the implementation of the rule of law.

Chief Prosecutor Milanko Kajganic said on Tuesday that Debevec and Mehmedagic were apprehended at order of acting prosecutor so that the prosecution can conduct unobstructed collecting of evidence in this case. Reportedly, the pair is suspected of abuse of office i.e. of illegal wiretapping of the state judges and the employees of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH who worked on various cases throughout 2020.

The US strongly supports the rule of law, independent prosecution and judiciary as well as the law enforcement agencies, which work on behalf of the BiH citizens conducting investigations, processing and punishing the crimes and corruption, the embassy said.

“The laws of BiH are the same for all citizens. The investigation against Mr Debevec and Mr Mehmedagic is an important step forwards in the implementation of the rule of law and is a fundament for any democracy. We expect the institutions of BiH and its all citizens to respect the processes that mean the implementation of BiH laws,” the embassy told Fena news agency.

In March this year, Mehmedagic was one of three Bosnian nationals who were put on the US blacklist as a “threat to regional stability, institutional trust, and the aspirations of those seeking democratic governance in the Western Balkans.”

The US institution said that in his official capacity as the Director General for BiH’s Intelligence Security Agency, BiH national Osman “Osmica” Mehmedagic misused a state-owned telecommunications company for the benefit of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), one of BiH’s largest political parties.

Mehmedagic denied the allegations, calling them baseless.

The sanctions on Mehmedagic introduced by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets, were confirmed by the US Department of State this month.