DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST OLIVERA NIKOLIĆ HALTED

SARAJEVO, SEPTEMBER 23 /SRNA/ - The Disciplinary Commission of the BiH Civil Service Agency has halted disciplinary proceedings against Olivera Nikolić, adviser at the BiH Mission to the EU in Brussels within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Council of Ministers, who was charged, even though she was not present, with attending this year's January 9 celebration.

The proceedings were halted because the disciplinary prosecutor Tarik Džubur, representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Council of Ministers, did not attend today’s hearing, and Nikolić assessed that the proceedings should never have been initiated. She emphasized that the proceedings were nothing more than an attempt to intimidate Serbs from Republika Srpska working in joint institutions, launched without any legal basis and under political influence. She also pointed out numerous irregularities in the proceedings, noting that some commission members acted as prosecutors, and stressed that the entire case was part of broader pressure on Serb staff in the institutions. "I have to say that I feel subjected to mobbing because I am from Republika Srpska, I am not a member of any party, and I point out irregularities. These proceedings should never have been initiated," Nikolić told reporters. She also said that the proceedings should not have been allowed for the additional reason that they were filed by a person who lacks standing to do so. "By authorization of the minister, Mr. Edin Dilberović is not a senior civil servant within the meaning of the Civil Service Law and has no right to act in such a manner or to file any disciplinary complaints," Nikolić explained. She added that the proceedings are being linked to a political trial against the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and that it is unacceptable for BiH institutions to be used for political showdowns. "If it is allowed for a foreigner to dictate in a country and impose decisions outside of those made by the National Assembly, and for a president - a legitimately elected president - to be convicted under such a law, then what are we, ordinary civil servants, supposed to expect?" Nikolić said. She also added that one should look at Konaković's interview from January, when he hinted at a `witch hunt` against all Serbs close to the SNSD and Milorad Dodik, noting that the proceedings against her were exactly that. "On February 28, I received a request from the minister to state where I had been on January 8 and 9, but surely his job is to conduct foreign policy, not to deal with where employees spent their vacation days. I see all of this as an act of intimidation," Nikolić said. She also emphasized that yesterday, during the proceedings, a member of the Commission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was collecting evidence against her and was not impartial. "Thus, yesterday I had three representatives of the institution, two members of the commission who absolutely acted as prosecutors. I must say that I felt so unwell that I ended up in the emergency room last night, because such injustice is hard to bear," Nikolić said. She stated that in this case, the statute of limitations had expired, that she had not received a decision on the initiation of disciplinary proceedings, nor any notice about the change of a member of the disciplinary commission. The BiH Prosecutor's Office has initiated an investigation against Nikolić, and today the disciplinary proceedings of the Disciplinary Commission of the BiH Civil Service Agency continued. Nikolić did not attend Republic Day, but disciplinary proceedings were launched against her because of a photo from January 9, 2024, which she had published on January 8 of this year.