Operation "Damascus": Person arrested in Trebinje intending to go to war in Syria

Police officers of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) this morning (05/06/2016), acting on orders from the BiH Prosecutor's Office, arrested a person with initials K.K. (1976) from Sarajevo in the Trebinje area.

The said person was detained at the border crossing by police officers of the BiH Border Police after being returned from Montenegro, and was handed over to SIPA police officers for further proceedings.        

The person with initials K.K. was arrested due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that they committed a criminal offense from Article 162b of the Criminal Code of BiH, paragraph (2) "Illegal formation and joining of foreign paramilitary or paramilitary formations", in conjunction with Article 26 of the Criminal Code of BiH "Attempt". The said person is suspected of having left the territory of BiH on 04/26/2016 with the intention of joining the terrorist organization ISIL in Syria.

During the work on this case, significant police cooperation was achieved at the national and international level, especially with the BiH Border Police and the competent authorities of Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria, which resulted in the arrest of K.K. and the prevention of their departure to the Syrian battlefield.

Acting on the order of the BiH Court, SIPA police officers are searching a residential building in the Sarajevo area used by the suspect, with the aim of finding and temporarily confiscating items that could serve as evidence in further proceedings.

The arrested person will be taken to SIPA's official premises, where they will be processed criminally, after which their further status will be decided in accordance with the instructions of the acting prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office. SIPA will submit a report to the BiH Prosecutor's Office on the existence of grounds for suspicion of a committed criminal offense against the said person.