There Were No Pressures!
I assert with full responsibility that there was no pressure from the OHR, not one word or suggestion, to stop the publication of the report, says Stiglmayer * Divjak used to work for Klickovic and Dodik governments * If talks about his previous engagement are understood as pressure not to publish the report, then I don’t know where we are
“I assert with full responsibility that there were no pressures from the Office of the High Representative on Transparency International with regard to the publication of their latest report,” Alexandra Stiglmayer, head of the OHR Press Office, stated for Oslobodjenje.
This is also a reply to the Friday accusation by Boris Divjak, President of TI for BiH, who said that he and nine members of this world NGO were blackmailed by the highest circles of the international community in BiH not to publish the report on corruption in international institutions. When asked by the journalists if one could conclude that “the top level of the international community” actually means the OHR, Divjak replied that they are “free to draw their own conclusions”.
It was discussed
Since it is not difficult to conclude who is “the top level of the international community”, we asked the Office of the High Representative for an explanation. Alexandra Stiglmayer says that, following Divjak’s announcements in July that he would publish materials on corruption in the international community in BiH, the representatives of the international community were interested to see who were the people in question.
“This was discussed by the top level of the international community, in bilateral talks between the heads of principal international organizations and some ambassadors,” says Stiglmayer.
Additionally, in the last two months the OHR contacted TI and Boris Divjak three times, says Stiglmayer. On the eve of the publication of the report, she asked Divjak for a copy of the report so she could prepare herself for the journalists’ reaction.
“Divjak answered that it wouldn’t be possible before Friday, when the Report was published. I wouldn’t call that pressure,” says Stiglmayer.
Furthermore, the Principal Deputy High Representative Donald Hays, spoke to Boris Divjak on Thursday, because fight against corruption is in his job description.
“The OHR was striving hard for the TI to open its office in BiH, which happened in February this year. Donald Hays talked to Divjak about the first TI report published in March, and subsequently, about this report and future ones and future plans of TI. He said to Divjak that he was surprised that they were drafting a report on corruption in the international community without previously talking to anyone from the international community. I wouldn’t call that pressure not to publish the report,” says Stiglmayer.
In his interview to the 28/29 July edition of Glas srpski, Boris Divjak accused Wolfgang Petritsch of corruption in relation to the personal documents tender. In the interview, Divjak said that it would be “interesting to establish the headquarters of the company that got the job, Siemens. Are they in Austria, from which that company is in charge of BiH in the “formational sense”, and in which there is also Siemens, or in some other country? I am not thereby prejudging the fact that Mr. Petritsch is from Austria”. In his letter of apology to Petritsch and letter to the editor of Glas srpski, Boro Maric, Divjak, however, denied the statement, claiming that it was inserted subsequently and that those were not his words. Glas srpski, however, never corrected the error.
What did Divjak do?
“The High Representative wrote to the Director of TI, Piter Eigen, about the interview, but the letter makes no reference whatsoever to the report. Maybe Divjak is interpreting this freely as pressure, but I still assert with full responsibility that there was no pressure from the OHR, not one word or suggestion, to stop the publication of the report,” says Stiglmayer.
But, after Divjak’s announcements, claims Alexandra Stiglmayer, discussions began within the international community as to his background. He is the president of Prosperitet, International Consulting Partners company.
“Divjak worked for the RS Government, at the time when it was seated in Pale and its prime minister Gojko Klickovic. After that he worked for Dodik’s government. We believe that he is an “insider”, someone who is aware of the internal system – as such, he could use his knowledge in disclosing possible corruption,” says Stiglmayer.
She added that all of this was considered at the top level of the international community, and that this information reached Divjak.
“If talks about his previous engagement are understood as pressure not to publish the report, then I don’t know where we are,” says Stiglmayer.