Sebija Izetbegovic no longer teacher at Sarajevo Faculty of Medicine

Sebija Izetbegovic, the wife of the Democratic Action Party (SDA) leader Bakir Izetbegovic, is no longer a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Sarajevo, the rector of the University of Sarajevo (UNSA), Rifat Skrijelj, told N1, Tuesday.

“Sebija Izetbegovic had an employment contract at the Faculty of Medicine that was never submitted to the University of Sarajevo, but we formally cancelled it, given that the employment contract is unsustainable after all the acts we passed, that is, the decisions we passed at the Senate and the University. There cannot be someone in a professor's position, whose professorship was taken away by invalidating their position,” Skrijelj said for N1.

According to the documentation regarding the decision to terminate Izetbegovic’s employment at the Faculty of Medicine, that N1 had seen, it was stated:

“Dr Sebija Izetbegovic ends her employment with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sarajevo on the basis of the concluded employment contract for an indefinite period with part-time work from 15 December 2014, due to the annulment of the decision of the Senate of the University of Sarajevo, dated 29 January 2022, on her appointment to full professor for the field of ‘Gynecology and Obstetrics’ at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sarajevo.”

The University of Sarajevo previously revoked Sebija Izetbegovic's academic titles, after which she sought justice in court and called everything mentioned against her a “political persecution”. The court epilogue is still awaited.

Izetbegovic, who is currently the director of the Sarajevo University Clinical Centre, cannot be the director of this institution without the mentioned academic titles, which is why the Sarajevo Canton Government sent a request to the Federation (FBiH) entity Government that Izetbegovic be dismissed.

Esad Oruč, a member of Izetbegović's legal team explained to N1 that neither Izetbegović nor her legal team received the decision on her dismissal from the Faculty of Medicine adding that it is illegal.

“This is the second or third time that an earlier order of the court has been violated, and Rector Rifat Skrijelj violated the court's decision in a premeditated manner. I would like to remind you that according to the temporary measure adopted by the court, no decision can be made regarding the academic titles and labour-legal status of Izetbegovic until the next hearing, which is scheduled for June 6. Then the court will make a new decision when the evidence is presented,” Oruc explained.