A hearing for the detention of Osman Mehmedagić Osmica, who is charged with abuse of official position, forgery of documents and money laundering, was held today before Tatjana Kosović, the judge for the preliminary procedure of the Court of B&H.
Acting prosecutor Oleg Čavka yesterday requested the disqualification of Judge Kosović due to suspicions that she is biased.
- The request for exemption came yesterday at 4 PM. This is decided by the general session of judges, but due to urgency, no decision was made. I have ruled on the request and a decision will be made and a case has been formed and a Judge Rapporteur has been appointed. Custody is in question and a decision must be made by 3:30 PM today - stated Kosović.
At the beginning, Mehmedagić said that he was employed at ISA and that he was an economist by profession - majoring in business law.
Prosecutor Čavka emphasized that he fully adheres to the motion for detention and believes that the grounds for the suspicion have been proven.
- This court has 50 judges, so there is no urgency and we do not trust you – Čavka addressed the Judge.
He added that the suspicion that Mehmedagić committed criminal acts is confirmed by 214 documents.
- Mehmedagić used forged diplomas many times. He even marked them with a degree of secrecy in order to cover up the crimes. His educational path took place by enrolling in the Faculty of Economics in 2005 and canceling the student's transcript from the Faculty of Law, which he published in the official gazette. He then enrolled at American University. At the time he ran for director, he cites diplomas in his biography. In August 2019, the RS education inspector ordered the annulment of the diploma - said Čavka.
After that, Mehmedagić addressed the Faculty of Law.
- Mehmedagić first addressed the Faculty of Law in Sarajevo, with a request that the faculty recognizes his advanced (vocational-school) specialist's training as a higher education through procedure, but that request was rejected due to the lack of legally prescribed conditions for recognition of vocational school, as higher education - said Čavka.
After that, he enrolled at the Faculty of Law of the University of Travnik in the locality of Kobiljača, Kiseljak municipality, where he enrolled in the third year of the Faculty of Law - the first cycle of studies.
- When it became certain that he would not obtain a law degree in time, he decided in agreement with Prcić to obtain a university degree, in a way that the owner of the American University in Tuzla, Denis Prcić, would issue him a diploma, although Mehmedagić never studied at that faculty. The findings of the graphology expert confirmed that the Index Register of the Faculty of Law in Tuzla was falsified by tearing the pages and entering the name of Osman Mehmedagić in place of student Damir Mujaković - Čavka described.
After that, Prcić removes all documents from the faculty from which it can be proven that Mehmedagić never studied at that faculty.
- When last year the Independent Commission for Supervision of ISA B&H asked Mehmedagić for proof that he had the necessary qualifications to perform the duties of the General Director of ISA B&H, he decided to submit a forged diploma from the American University in B&H. He marked that diploma with the degree of secrecy "Confidential", forbade the forwarding of acts to other bodies and ordered in the sense of Article 65 of the Law on Protection of Classified Information of B&H the return of the secret document of the ISA B&H. However, that diploma was never included in Mehmedagić's personal file in ISA - says Čavka.
At that time, two more important documents were seized, security questionnaires, claims the Prosecutor's Office of B&H.
- Persons who have access to classified information must first complete security questionnaires in order to obtain a security clearance. During the security clearance procedure in 2015, Mehmedagić did not state that he possessed a diploma of higher education from the American University in B&H, and in the security clearance procedure from 2021, he did not show this diploma again - the prosecutor stated.
According to the prosecutor, that diploma was never found, because Prcić is hiding it.
- Mehmedagić owns an apartment in Miss Irbina Street, an apartment in Dobrinja, a house and another building in Trnovo. The house was sold to him by Šaćir Čedić, who was accused in the "Zadruga" case at the time. There is no evidence of transactions for the payment of that house, and Čedić stated that it was paid in cash on several occasions, and it cost 116,000 KM. Also, the purchase of an Audi Q5 for Mehmedagić's wife from Asim Sarajlić is disputable. It is an unfounded profit - claims Čavka.
Also, the prosecution established during the search that there were no registry books of the American University, and during the search of twovacation homes, servers, documents and CDs were found, which were handed over for expert examination.
- At the time of writing the motion for detention, we were facing unprecedented pressure. In front were demonstrations led by Jasmin Mulahusić, who is on a list of potential terrorists linked to Al Qaeda. He lives in Luxembourg. Politicians openly put pressure. Also on the day of the arrest, students protested in front of the US Embassy because they were denied their rights - stated Čavka.
The prosecutor intends to question all witnesses next month and file charges.
Mehmedagic's defense attorney Nermin Mulalić stated that he opposes the detention order and believes that his client was arrested illegally.
- We object to the illegal deprivation of liberty. Everything after that is "the yield of a poisonous fruit." The police were obliged to hand him over to the prosecutor as soon as possible, and instead they unjustifiably detained him for 24 hours. Mehmedagić's right to freedom is endangered. The District Court in Banja Luka ruled that all acts related to the diploma were annulled. So at this moment, the diploma is legal - says Mulalić.
Lawyer Senka Nožica said that the proposal did not describe Mehmadagić's abuse.
- This is a chase for political reasons. Our client has already been released once and for all, and because of that, someone from the Prosecutor's Office should have resigned. It is about completing the appointment of a new ISA leadership as soon as possible - says Nožica.
Prosecutor Čavka responded to the lawyer, saying that it was an insult and that he hopes that she has proof of what she is saying.
- My client was not in a secret location. He did not sleep at home, his wife may be worried about that. When the police called him, he immediately called and said that he would come in an hour just to get dressed and that's all - said Nožica.
