Darko Elez Can Be Extradited to BiH, Final Decision Lies with Serbian Minister of Justice

The Appellate Court in Belgrade has finally ruled that the conditions for the extradition of Darko Elez (40) to BiH have been met, as BiH seeks him for a series of organized crime offenses.

Court spokesperson Mirjana Piljić specified for Tanjug that the court rejected Elez's lawyer's appeal and upheld the decision of the Higher Court in Belgrade from January, which determined that the conditions for Elez's extradition have been met due to a series of serious organized crime offenses committed in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

That decision rejected part of BiH's request for Elez's extradition because the Extradition Treaty between Serbia and BiH was not in force at that time.

In any case, the courts have finally decided that Elez should be extradited to BiH, and in accordance with the procedure, the final decision on extradition will be made by Minister of Justice Maja Popović.

Elez has been in extradition custody since his arrest in December in Belgrade, where he has lived and worked for many years, after serving a nine-year prison sentence in Serbia for being the organizer of a criminal group that, in 2009, trafficked drugs, committed extortion, and committed other crimes on the territory of Serbia and BiH.

Media in Serbia mention him as an associate of recently arrested Veljko Belivuk.

BiH seeks Elez's extradition to conduct criminal proceedings and trial before the local court for the criminal offense of organized crime.

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH announced after Elez's arrest in Belgrade that it seeks his extradition based on a confirmed indictment in the case known as "Lutka", as well as for an investigation jointly conducted by that Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, together with partner institutions in the region.

That investigation relates to serious crimes committed in the area of East Sarajevo and BiH, including murders carried out by "methods of mafia-style liquidations" in 2018 and 2019, then planning and attempted murders in the area of East Sarajevo and Bijeljina, as well as extortion, intimidation, and other crimes against injured persons from the area of East Sarajevo and BiH, as specified in the statement that Tanjug had access to.

Local media reported that these are the murders of the owner of the wedding salon "Rodeo", Siniša Miličević, known as Tigar, in May 2018, and the owner of the nightclub "Sparta", Miloš Ostojić, in January 2019 in East Sarajevo.

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH emphasizes that, in cooperation with partner institutions, it has learned that the organizer and coordinator of the committed crimes, together with other persons, is precisely Darko Elez, who was arrested in Belgrade on a warrant from Interpol Sarajevo.

The Prosecutor's Office also seeks Elez for prosecution based on the confirmed indictment from the "Lutka" case, which charges him with organized crime in connection with several serious crimes, including murders, attempted murder, robberies of money transports, and other crimes committed from 2005 to 2009. The Serbian courts rejected extradition on these charges.