prijava
SARAJEVO, January 20 (FENA) - The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has made a final decision on criminal charges filed by Transparency International in BiH (TIBiH) against SNSD leader Milorad Dodik for threatening pensioners and RITA Gacko workers during the 2018 election campaign and concluded that there were no elements of a criminal offense.
“TIBiH reported this case in the 2018 election campaign because there are grounds for suspicion that a criminal offense was committed related to the violation of freedom of choice of voters. However, the acting prosecutor refused to initiate an investigation, explaining that the threat was not specific, that the pre-election speech was not only attended by RITE Gacko workers but also by unidentified persons,” TIBiH in a press release.
In this regard, TIBiH considers it especially disputable that the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, when considering the threat and its criminal-legal relevance, did not take into account that a person in a prominent social position made the threats and who has political power, and that in this way the message is sent that economic conditioning and threats to voters will go unpunished.
The TIBiH reminds that they complained about the mentioned argumentation of the acting prosecutor, and "that it took Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH Gordana Tadić almost two years to make a decision on the complaint".
Finally, the application was rejected on January 13 this year, explaining that the threat did not cause fear among employees.
The decision further states that the voting in Bosnia and Herzegovina is secret, so "it is generally known that Milorad Dodik could not have known in what way the workers of RITE Gacko used their voting right."
“This argument of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH is especially controversial due to the increasing occurrence of control over the election process (photographing ballots, etc.), and is interesting in the context of Dodik's recent threats to Banja Luka citizens after the last elections,” stated TIBiH.
TI BiH reminds that during the 2018 General Election campaign, Milorad Dodik threatened RITA Gacko workers that they would be "fired" if they vote for opposition candidates, as well as pensioners that they would be denied one-time payment assistance if they did not vote for his political option.
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