Thursday, 11th November 2010.

Cardinal Puljic eviction/delozacija

Dear Sir/Madam: 

We are deeply saddened and appalled by the November 2, 2010 decision of the Sarajevo County court that ordered the eviction of Vinko Cardinal Puljić and his staff from a section of the Vrhbosna Archdiocesan residence in Sarajevo.  The following is the history of the case.

The building that houses the seat and living quarters of the Archbishop of Vrhbosna was erected at the center of the city of Sarajevo in 1895.  In 1972, the communist regime simply took over a part of the building, turned it into an apartment and moved in Fadil and Emina Smajović, both agents of the UDBA, the infamous Yugoslav communist secret police.  Their job was to keep an eye on the comings and goings at the Archbishop's home and office and, by means of a secret listening device, to record what was being said at the Archbishop's residence.

In 1992, when the communist regime collapsed and the building was bombed, the Smajović couple, as active agents of the collapsing communist regime, ran from the city.  First they went to Vojvodina (now a province of Serbia), then to Istria (a province of Croatia), and finally Canada welcomed the former communist agents.  Meanwhile, the Archdiocese fixed the building and moved into the part that was taken over and used by the UDBA (but never legally nationalized by the communist regime).  In 1997, Fadil undertook legal action to regain control of the part of the Archdiocesan building that he used as an UDBA agent, claiming that he was deprived of his own apartment.  But he died while on the way from Canada to Sarajevo for the court hearing.  However, his wife Emina (whose code name as UDBA agent was "Tamara" and lives in Canada) continued to claim the legal right to "her apartment" in Sarajevo.  The Archdiocese wanted to settle the issue out of court and even offered to buy her an apartment in the city if she stopped the legal process, but she refused.