It all started with an irregular recruitment procedure during which Rasema Obralija, wife of Enes Obralija, president of the Independent Board and member of the Civil Service Appeals Committee, was selected. Enes Karić confirmed the information obtained by Fokus. Enes Obralija: The minister selected my wife because she is a quality employee
In addition to the DCPB, whose important Section is represented by Miroslav Nešić, being under the authority of the BiH Ministry of Security, which is headed by Nenad Nešić, the information obtained by Fokus include elements of influence peddling.
Competences of the Board
It has to be immediately stressed that Miroslav Nešić has been with the Section NCB Interpol since 2014. He was then employed as advisor for economic crime in the Section NCB Interpol at the DCPB by the decision of the BiH Civil Service Agency.
When it comes to the fact that he currently heads the Section NCB Interpol, it should be pointed out that Enes Obralija, the current president of the Independent Board, is a very important link in this entire story.
Namely, Obralija has been, for several years now, the president of the Independent Board, which is a body with very important powers related to the security sector at the state level.
The independent board is responsible for conducting candidate selection procedures and proposing the removal of the heads and deputy heads of the BiH police bodies, namely the heads of SIPA, the Border Police, as well as the Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies itself.
This body is also responsible for examination of complaints concerning the work of the heads and deputy heads of the BiH police bodies. The Independent Board informs the BiH Minister of Security and the BiH Council of Ministers about complaints received, initiates disciplinary action against heads and deputy heads of the BiH police bodies, for whose selection it is responsible, if they have committed a crime or if they have seriously violated their duty, except for traffic safety-related crimes.
Rasema Obralija, who is Enes Obralija’s wife, officially held the position of the head of this Section from August 10 before Miroslav Nešić has started managing the Section NCB Interpol in the DCPB!
Changes in the Section
It was only on December 18, 2023 that the decision was published in the Official Gazette of BiH that Obralija is holding this position in the DCPB from August 10. Žurnal had in May of last year published a text in which they pointed to indications of rigging of the internal vacancy for the position to which Rasema Obralija was ultimately selected.
But why is Obralija no longer the head of the Section NCB Interpol, even though her husband is influential in the security sector of BiH, since he is not only the president of the Independent Board, but also a member of the Civil Service Appeals Board, which decides on administrative omissions?
According to Fokus’ information, this was the decision of the current director of the Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies, Enes Karić, who was appointed to this position by the decision of the BiH Council of Ministers on June 7 last year. As Fokus.ba learns, Karić wanted to annul this internal vacancy for the head of the Section NCB Interpol after he had assumed the position of director of the Directorate, precisely because of the irregularities, which were reported in the media.
As we have learned, active knowledge of the English language was eliminatory for this position, which is also disputable in terms of the person who was ultimately selected.
As we have also learned, Karić contacted the Civil Service Agency to annul this vacancy in line with the Law on Civil Service in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, instead of annulling this vacancy in line with Article 21a of the aforementioned law, the Agency did not do so, although no deadline is prescribed for the annulment of an internal vacancy.
Neven Akšamija, who is on good terms with Obralija, was still the director of the Civil Service Agency at that time. Akšamija, the years-long director of the BiH Civil Service Agency, was dismissed by the decision of the Council of Ministers on August 31, and Anita Markić was appointed to this position.
Consequently, Rasema Obralija assumed the position of head of the Section NCB Interpol from August 10. However, Karić did not come to terms with this fact, and this information also reached Minister Nešić.
Meetings “behind the curtain”
A series of meetings “behind the curtain” took place soon after that, followed by an agreement to transfer Rasema Obralija, by mutual consent, without any internal or public vacancy, to the Sector for Protection and Rescue of the BiH Ministry of Security.
According to Article 32 of the Civil Service Law, such an external transfer of Rasema Obralija was possible, but with the consent of both heads of the institutions, Karić and Nešić in this case.
In an interview with Fokus, the director of the Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies, Enes Karić, confirmed that Rasema Obralija was externally transferred to the BiH Ministry of Security.
– She has the legal right to that. She was then appointed head of a department, but that is no longer the subject of my interest. That is now a matter for the minister. I actually asked the Civil Service Agency to annul the internal vacancy for the head of the Section NCB Interpol in the DCPB, because once I came to this position I saw certain HR elements that I wanted to cover by changing the staff establishment plan, etc. However, the Agency refused. – said Karić.
-I am not an investigator, let SIPA, if necessary, investigate it. I just observe the laws and regulations – said Karić.
When it comes to Miroslav Nešić, Karić says that he is a civil servant who has been employed in the Section NCB Interpol for many years, and is one of the oldest civil servants in that Section.
-He did not receive any formal legal decision in the sense that he is an acting head of the Section, but he does perform certain duties of the head of the Section NCB Interpol. Someone has to do it. But nothing is being prejudged–said Karić.
Given that, as he said, there were two candidates in the recruitment procedure, there is also a legal possibility to activate the reserve list, because, it is necessary to complete the procedure.
– I must have the head of the Section NCB Interpol. We have forwarded a request to activate that reserve list, but we still have not received a response. The Civil Service Agency rejected our request, but then we appealed to the Civil Service Appeals Board. We haven’t heard back from them yet – said Karić.
Statements of Obarlija and Šandara
Enese Obarlija is one of the members of the Civil Service Appeals Committee, as mentioned before. We confronted him with all the mentioned facts in a telephone conversation.
-As far as I know, my wife went through a legal procedure at the DCPB and I see no reason for such information. Whatever happens, she is available to judicial institutions. What do I have to do with that? – asked Obralija.
In the response to our statement that there is information that he was involved in her transfer, and to the question of whether he had met with Darko Šandar, advisor to Minister Nešić, Obralija said that he could not confirm such a thing.
–I have not arranged any transfer. This was done by external transfer. The Minister asked the Directorate because it is part of the Ministry. He can reassign employees in the institutions that are under that ministry. He assessed that he needs her, that she is a quality employee. What do you expect now? Should I talk bad about my wife? – asked Obralija.
We also talked to Darko Šandar, advisor to the BiH Minister of Security Nenad Nešić. We asked him, inter alia, if he met husband of Rasema Obralija because of her.
-Don’t take it against me, I am not authorized to give you answers without the minister – shortly answered Šandara.
By the way, Fokus had on January 8 sent an official request to the BiH Ministry of Security for a statement regarding all the mentioned information, but we did not receive any answer by the time this text was completed. During a phone conversation on February 29 Šandara told us that he would check to see if we would get answers.
-We will officially respond if our service deems it necessary – shortly said Šandara.
