Dragan Mektić (; born 24 December 1956) is a

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

politician and former criminal investigator who served as Minister of Security from 2015 to 2019. He was also a member of the national

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. Mektić is a member of the Serb Democratic Party as well.

Biography

Mektić graduated from an engineering-orientated vocational high school in the Bosnian city of

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. ...

. Following his graduation, he enrolled and completed a higher administrative school, and eventually warner a degree in

Criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

from the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

. From 1980 until 1997, Mektić directed a police station, where he was engaged in suppressing general and financial crime. Then, from 1997 to 2003, he was employed in the intelligence sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 2002 to 2007, he was deputy of the then security minister

Bariša Čolak Bariša Čolak (born 1 January 1956) is Bosnian Croat politician and lawyer. He is currently a member of the House of Peoples and previously served as Minister of Justice from 2007 to 2015. Čolak was also Minister of Security from 2002 to 2007 ...

, followed by nine years, from 2006 until 2015, as director of the Service for Foreigners' Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 31 March 2015, Mektić was appointed Minister of Security as part of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

led by Denis Zvizdić. His term as Minister ended on 23 December 2019. Mektić later became a member of the national

Public persona

Mektić is generally considered to be a popular figure, not just in a political, but in a social spectrum as well. He has attracted the media's attention numerous times for his occasionally over-exaggerative and satirical impressions of the current situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole and was often being credited as "the voice of reason" among the nation's politicians. His popularity primarily revolves around his open opposition and often harsh criticism directed to the

political leader

Milorad Dodik Milorad Dodik ( sr-cyrl, Милорад Додик, ; born 12 March 1959) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as the 8th president of Republika Srpska since November 2022. Previously, he served as the 7th Serb member of the Presidency of Bo ...

. On one instance, in November 2019, Mektić had ripped apart his

Army of Republika Srpska The Army of Republika Srpska ( sr, Војска Републике Српске/Vojska Republike Srpske; ВРС/VRS), commonly referred to in English as the Bosnian Serb Army, was the military of Republika Srpska (RS), the self-proclaimed Serb ...

veteran-membership booklet on live TV in protest to the government of

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...

. Mektić would go on to display his personality on live-TV once again. In an informal interview, He had talked about his childhood in Prnjavor, discussing his parents and their attitudes. He was quoted as saying: ''"In some cases, my father would beat the hell out of me; I often hid on top a beech tree for hours at the time."'' In July 2020, Mektić, who maintains an active

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account, published a video of himself organizing a

foam party A foam party is a social event at which participants dance to music on a dance floor covered in several feet of suds or bubbles, dispensed from a foam machine. History Foam parties can be dated back to ''A Rhapsody in Black and Blue'', a 1932 sh ...

in the river

Ukrina Ukrina ( cyrl, Укрина) is a river in the Central Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, right tributary of the river Sava. Its mouth is 3 km north from settlement Koraće and 10 km southwest of Brod. Vojnogeografski institut, Ed. (1955): ...

near his hometown of Prnjavor. The video soon became viral, however, as a result, he became a subject of an investigation conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Republika Srpska.

References

External links

Dragan Mektić
at imovinapoliticara.cin.ba {{DEFAULTSORT:Mektić, Dragan 1956 births Living people People from Prnjavor, Bosnia and Herzegovina University of Zagreb alumni Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians Serb Democratic Party (Bosnia and Herzegovina) politicians Government ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Security ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Members of the House of Representatives (Bosnia and Herzegovina)