VULIĆ: PREACHING JUSTICE LOOKING DOWN ON OTHERS WHILE POSSIBLY HAVING TIES TO CARTELS BEHIND THE SCENES DOES NOT DO

EAST SARAJEVO, JULY 15 /SRNA/ – If it turns out that a drug cartel was involved in financing Elmedin Konaković's party, it would mean that the entire idea of People and Justice was built on criminal money, said Sanja Vulić, the head of the SNSD caucus in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly.

"If it turns out that Konaković's political career was financed by organised crime, it won't just be his downfall, but the exposure of the so-called reformist politics that sold out the people for a handful of dirty money. You can't act like a dispenser of justice looking down on others while possibly having cartel ties behind the scenes," Vulić told SRNA. She notes that Konaković, a self-proclaimed moral authority, is now under investigation for allegedly receiving party financing from the Tito and Dino drug cartel. She emphasized that this ongoing investigation casts serious doubt on Konaković's years of public appearances in which he portrayed himself as a fighter against corruption and a guardian of political morality. Vulić adds it is hypocritical for a man who presents himself to the public as a moral purist who is constantly lecturing others about honesty, to now be in the spotlight for possible ties to the criminal underworld. She welcomed the fact that at least one security agency in BiH has the courage to investigate Konaković, noting that he frequently accuses others of nepotism and crime, something he may now experience personally. "If the judiciary does its job, despite Konaković being a `favorite` of the judicial system, it may turn out that his moral lessons to others were nothing but a smokescreen," Vulić said. The State Investigation and Protection Agency /SIPA/ is currently investigating the financing of Elmedin Konaković's People and Justice party, acting on the order of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH. The Prosecutor's Office has instructed SIPA to carry out checks as part of the Black Tie case, amid suspicions as reported by Avaz that the party may have been financed with money from a drug cartel.