US-Sanctioned Bosnians Demand Proof of Their Wrongdoing

Osman Mehmedagic, former director of Bosnia's Intelligence and Security Agency and now sanctioned by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, reacted to the penalty by saying that the "accusations are unfounded and false".

The OFAC said Mehmedagic had used his position to abuse the state-owned telecommunications company, BH Telecom, for "the benefit of Party of Democratic Action, SDA," the biggest Bosniak party in the country, using cellular data to follow the movements of politicians not affiliated with the SDA.

"I will defend my honour and professional integrity that I have built up over the years in every possible legal way, so I once again call on the US Treasury Department not to question my reputation and their own with blanket accusations," Mehmedagic, who was replaced on February 23, said in a press release.

The OFAC stated that it has "also credible information that Mehmedagic has collaborated with criminal networks to enrich himself and his political party".

The SDA also asked OFAC and US embassy to Bosnia to publish evidence on their claims.

"We again request that instead of heavy and general accusations against the SDA, the domestic public and the judiciary are presented clearly and unambiguously with evidence: which politicians were followed, when, in what period, what kind of enrichment, in what way, which people got rich, through which criminal network, how much money," it said.

Until this happens, it added, the "SDA will consider the heavy and untrue accusations that are periodically repeated only as additional pressure, aimed at trying to force the SDA out of power".

Mehmedagic was the second SDA member to be sanctioned by the US in only five months, after the Federation...