As political tensions surrounding Republika Srpska continue, new details are emerging about the police and prosecutorial investigation into the financial operations of the Srebrenica–Potočari Memorial Center.
According to reports, the investigation may also reveal long-standing internal disputes involving individuals connected to the Memorial Center.
Internal conflict resurfaces
The dispute became public several years ago through an open confrontation between Memorial Center Director Emir Suljagić and Management Board President Hamdija Fejzić.
Suljagić accused Fejzić of being one of the most damaging figures in Srebrenica during and after the war and claimed that Fejzić had threatened him.
Fejzić, meanwhile, publicly accused Suljagić of lying.
The conflict eventually subsided and the two appeared publicly on the same side again. However, the dispute left behind allegations concerning the Memorial Center’s financial operations.
An anonymous criminal complaint concerning alleged financial irregularities remained with the Prosecutor’s Office in Bijeljina, while internal lists of individuals who allegedly received donated funds through various arrangements also circulated on social media.
According to some Sarajevo-based journalists, several individuals whose names appeared on those lists are now being questioned as witnesses.
Part of the material was also published last year by Federation of BiH Minister Vojin Mijatović, who released what he presented as Viber correspondence with Fejzić.
Investigation into financial operations
Judicial institutions in Bijeljina are examining allegations related to financial transactions involving the Potočari Memorial Center.
At the same time, representatives of the Memorial Center and some Bosniak political officials have characterized the investigation as political pressure, intimidation of returnees and an attempt to generate ethnic tensions.
Officials and organizations in Republika Srpska reject such claims, arguing that the investigation should be allowed to proceed and that the Memorial Center cannot be exempt from ordinary legal scrutiny.
They have questioned why an investigation into financial operations has generated such strong political reactions if the institution operated entirely in accordance with the law.
At this stage, the proceedings concern allegations and investigative activities, and do not in themselves establish criminal responsibility.
Suljagić and the proposed diplomatic appointment
The controversy has also been linked to an earlier attempt to appoint Emir Suljagić as Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ambassador to the Netherlands.
Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency Denis Bećirović supported Suljagić’s appointment to the diplomatic post in The Hague.
However, the proposal did not receive the necessary support from Serb member of the Presidency Željka Cvijanović.
Against the background of the current investigation, renewed questions are being raised about whether the attempted diplomatic appointment was connected in any way with tensions surrounding the Memorial Center.
For now, however, no evidence presented in the report establishes such a connection.
The investigation is therefore expected to determine whether financial irregularities occurred at the Memorial Center and, if so, who may bear responsibility.
Source: RTRS
