Bosnia Cannot Allow Criminal Politicians to Play ‘Patriot’ Card

The question is what will happen next.

All eyes now turn to the notoriously inefficient public prosecutor's office, headed by Gordana Tadic, although concerns with Bosnia's prosecutors and courts long predate her tenure.

Bosnia's chief state prosecutor Gordana Tadic. Photo: detektor.ba/archive

Much of the last decade has been marked by volatile public protests by citizens against the country's legal and judicial system, at both state, entity, and cantonal level. Whether confronted by random acts of violence or instances of gross political corruption, investigators, prosecutors, and judges have rarely acted in accordance with the rule of law.

This scandal presents an opportunity to reset the fight against corruption and organised crime in Bosnia. That was clear weeks ago, as I argued in my previous column. But since Novalic, Hodzic, and Solak were placed in custody, the legitimacy of Bosnia's legal order has also come into question. As BIRN's Denis Dzidic observed: "I see no way for [Bosnia's] judiciary to easily recover if this case falls through".

If Bosnia's prosecutors cannot secure convictions - or if the courts cannot deliver appropriate sentences - in such a widely documented procurement and profiteering scandal, amid a global public health crisis, the consequences will be dire.

No society can tolerate such brazen and unpunished criminality. No democratic regime can sustain such shocking inequality under the law, without it resulting in significant social and political revolt.

That said, there is now the issue that Novalic's Party of Democratic Action, SDA, has responded to these events by arguing that his arrest represents a "coup" and an "attack on the Bosniak people", orchestrated by the Croatian Democratic...

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