Top Bosnian Judicial Official Faces Disciplinary Probe

The Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor, UDT, of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, HJPC, on Friday filed a disciplinary action against Milan Tegeltija, president of the HJPC, for "a serious violation of official duty, jeopardizing public trust in the impartiality and credibility of the judiciary". It requested that Tegeltija be removed from office until proceedings have ended.

The HJPC has to form a first-instance disciplinary commission in the coming days to consider the proposal.

Tegeltija, head of the body overseeing the Bosnian judiciary, has been at a centre of corruption allegations after a secretly-filmed video was released showing him allegedly taking bribes through a middleman.

The video showed a meeting between Tegeltija, Marko Pandza, a police officer at the State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, who acted as a middleman, and a businessman, Nermin Alesevic. The video suggested that the President of the HJPC might take a bribe to speed up a case in local courts.

Tegeltija, who testified on Thursday in the case of an alleged corruption scandal, dismissed allegations of taking bribes. The same day, SIPA suspended Pandza and initiated disciplinary proceedings against him.

The chairman of the HJPC on Friday said he knew a disciplinary suit had been raised against him but did not know its contents because it had not not delivered to him. He added that he was on his annual holiday from Friday.

"I do not think I have committed any disciplinary offence, nor do I in any way feel responsible. All my further pronouncements will follow after I get insight into the disciplinary suit", Tegeltija wrote in a press release.

Following the release of the compromising video, several...