Despite no obstacles: Croatian Minister Bošnjaković does not approve the extradition of Lejla Fazlagić to the BiH judiciary

The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia does not have a prescribed deadline for making a decision to allow or disallow extradition, so fugitives from BiH who are also citizens of Croatia enjoy a certain protection. One such example is the fugitive Lejla Fazlagić, who avoided arrest in the Justice case in November last year, writes the Patria agency.

Fazlagić is suspected of being part of Alija Delimustafić's organized group, and the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office charges them with organized crime, in connection with the criminal offenses of abuse of office, violation of the law by a judge, money laundering, and fraud.

When asked by the Patria agency whether there were any obstacles to Fazlagić's extradition and why the Extradition Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina of January 31, 2014, was not applied in this case, given that the County Court decided there were no obstacles to extradition, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Croatia, and Lejla Fazlagić's appeal was rejected, we received the following answer:

- In accordance with Article 57 of the Law on International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, the final decision determining that the legal prerequisites for extradition have been met, along with the case file, is submitted to the Ministry of Justice, and upon receipt, the Minister of Justice makes a decision to allow or disallow extradition. The deadline for making a decision to allow or disallow extradition is not prescribed.

This means that the Minister of Justice, Dražen Bošnjaković, is deliberately delaying signing the extradition decision so that Fazlagić can be held accountable before the BiH judiciary for the criminal offenses she is accused of.

We remind you that Fazlagić resigned on May 27, 2016, during the disciplinary proceedings initiated against her by the Disciplinary Prosecutor's Office due to a report of abuse of office. She was officially dismissed from her duties as a judge on July 30, 2016, after which she fled to Rijeka, thus avoiding arrest. The Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office confirmed that Fazlagić had been tipped off that she was under special investigative measures and had left BiH.

Fazlagić was deprived of her liberty in Rijeka based on an international arrest warrant issued by the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office and is subject to measures prohibiting her from reporting to the police station.

And these are not the only cases where Croatia has shown itself to be a "safe zone for criminals from BiH." We previously wrote about the cases of Jelavić, Knezović, and Balijagić.