The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections “Pod lupom” submitted initiatives to amend the criminal legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska and Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim to make it impossible to replace prison sentences for election theft and fraud with a financial penalty.
The analysis of the Coalition “Pod lupom” showed that the current criminal system is insufficiently rigorous and that it enables the repetition of criminal offenses without adequate sanctions. Namely, perpetrators of criminal offenses in the field of election fraud can avoid a prison sentence of up to one year by replacing it with a financial penalty. This practice is not only unfair, but also dangerous for the integrity of the electoral process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Instead of facing serious consequences for the crimes committed, perpetrators of election theft are often rewarded with light sentences that do not reflect the seriousness of their crimes. This undermines citizens’ confidence in the electoral system, as well as the judicial system of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole, and opens the space to repeat criminal acts in the area of electoral irregularities.
According to the data obtained by the Coalition “Pod lupom”, by analysing court practice for election theft and fraud, prison sentences were imposed in the period from 2020 to 2023. However, in practice, it happens that the perpetrators of criminal offenses do not spend a single day in prison. Although they were convicted of vote fraud, influence peddling, violation of freedom of decision, destruction of election documents, falsification of documents, etc., the existing system allowed the offenders to escape any serious consequences and to replace the imposed prison sentence with a financial penalty or to receive a suspended sentence.
The Coalition “Pod lupom” is of the opinion that it should be impossible to replace prison sentences with a financial penalty for perpetrators of crimes related to election theft and fraud, which violate the basic pillars of democracy and human rights.
The Coalition “Pod lupom” emphasizes that the Criminal Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that there is no possibility to replace a prison sentence with a financial penalty for perpetrators of crimes against the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as for some other crimes, and therefore crimes that threaten the electoral process at all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be treated in a completely identical way.
Stricter sanctioning of criminal offenses related to elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina contributes to the prevention of future criminal offenses as well as to the deterrence of possible perpetrators to make these offenses. Stricter penal policy can greatly contribute to restoring and maintaining citizens’ trust in the electoral system and in judicial institutions at all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
