The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has acquitted Osman Mehmedagić, the former director of the country’s Intelligence and Security Agency (OSA), of charges of abuse of office or official authority in a first-instance ruling issued on October 20, 2026.
The prosecution had accused Mehmedagić of unlawfully serving as OSA director from November 2019 until February 27, 2023, allegedly because he did not meet the legal requirement for the appropriate level of higher education.
The court ruled that the actions described in the indictment did not contain all the legal elements required to establish the criminal offence of abuse of office.
According to the court’s reasoning, the prosecution had failed to specify which official powers Mehmedagić had allegedly misused or exceeded, or how his actions had resulted in an unlawful benefit or caused damage.
“Since the factual description in the indictment does not specify the defendant’s unlawful conduct, it was not possible to establish all the legal elements of the criminal offence with which he was charged,” the court stated in its explanation.
Prosecution Alleged Financial Benefit of Nearly 293,000 KM
Prosecutors argued that Mehmedagić had abused his position to remain in office, retain official status and social influence, and obtain financial benefits through salaries and allowances.
According to the indictment, those payments totalled 293,046.58 convertible marks (KM), allegedly causing equivalent damage to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state budget.
The court’s first-instance ruling rejected the charges on the grounds that the indictment did not adequately establish the legal elements of the alleged offence.
The prosecution has the right to appeal the decision before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Appellate Division.
Academic Qualifications Previously Under Scrutiny
Mehmedagić headed OSA from November 2019 until February 2023. His tenure was marked by controversy over his academic qualifications after a diploma issued by a private university in Banja Luka was annulled in 2019.
He subsequently submitted diplomas from the American University in Tuzla and a higher education institution associated with the Faculty of Law in Sarajevo.
The prosecution has separately alleged that the diploma from the American University was forged. That matter is part of a separate legal proceeding involving Mehmedagić, former Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina president Ranko Debevec, and court official Milisav Pijuk.
The separate case concerns alleged unlawful wiretapping, forgery of official documents and abuse of office. The allegations in that proceeding are distinct from the charges addressed in the October 20 acquittal.
Mehmedagić Remains Under US Sanctions
Mehmedagić has been under US sanctions since March 2023. At the time, US authorities alleged that he had misused Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state telecommunications company for the benefit of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and cited what they described as credible information about his links to criminal networks.
The acquittal announced on October 20 concerns the specific abuse-of-office charges related to his tenure as OSA director and is a first-instance decision. The prosecution may challenge the ruling through the appeals process.
