Country
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Year
2022
Issuing Entity
US
Type
Individual
Institution
US Department of Treasury
Executive Order
E.O. 14033
Grounds
Corruption, Destabilisation
Additional information
BALKANS-EO14033. Asim Sarajlic (Sarajlic) is a member of the parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and was until recently a high-ranking Party of Democratic Action (SDA) official in BiH. Sarajlic is the infamous subject of the “Asim affair,” a political corruption scandal in which Sarajlic was caught promising to secure a job for the wife of a party delegate in exchange for a requested vote on a political party position. Sarajlic has been indicted for additional offenses, including abuse of office and influence peddling.Sarajlic has also abused his position in relation to BH Telecom, a large BiH state-owned enterprise. In this capacity, Sarajlic personally accepted from payment from job applicants in exchange for positions, and otherwise exerted inordinate influence over the hiring process. As part of this activity, Sarajlic recommended candidates who were reportedly severely underqualified, undermining the integrity of the company. Sarajlic was designated pursuant to E.O. 14033 for being responsible for or complicit in, or for having directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption related to the Western Balkans, including corruption by, on behalf of, or otherwise related to a government in the Western Balkans, or a current or former government official at any level of government in the Western Balkans, such as the misappropriation of public assets, expropriation of private assets for personal gain or political purposes, or bribery.
