Crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina, freedom in neighboring country: Mamić adopts practice of BiH fugitives

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Former head and current advisor of NK Dinamo, Zdravko Mamić, yesterday, a day before the non-final verdict was to be announced at the County Court in Osijek, where he is being tried for accusations of siphoning 116 million kuna from that club, went to Međugorje, and told the media that he would not come to Osijek for the verdict announcement.

He told Index.hr from Međugorje that he went to find peace. "I can return whenever I want," Mamić said.

This hinted at the possibility that he would not return so soon, or not at all.

There are many examples where crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina means freedom in Croatia, and vice versa.

Ante Jelavić, Faruk Balijagić, Lejla Fazlagić, Oliver Knezović are just some of the examples that show the shortcomings of dual citizenship and problems between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina when it comes to extradition requests due to legal proceedings.

The case of Oliver Knezović has worried the public. The indictment charges Oliver Knezović with the murder of FK Sarajevo fan Vedran Puljić in October 2009 and the wounding of six people in Široki Brijeg.

Knezović escaped from custody a few days later and found refuge in Croatia. Given that he has Croatian citizenship, according to the Constitution and laws, Croatia does not extradite its citizens to other countries, so his trial began there.

His case is undergoing a complete reversal, and Knezović is now charged with attempted murder, though it is not yet known of whom, and causing general danger.

This is the decision of the County Prosecutor's Office in Split. Knezović is being tried at the County Court in Split, and the indictment was amended after the testimony of expert witness Vojin Maštruk, who claimed the opposite of two BiH expert witnesses, Bruno Franjić and Alija Kotarević.

Unfortunately, the court did not allow the testimony of these two expert witnesses. Earlier, Franjić and Kotarević wrote to judge Mlađan Prvan, distancing themselves from the claims of expert witness Maštruk. They still stand by what they wrote in their report, which they sent to judge Prvan at the beginning of May this year. However, the court accepted the claims of expert witness Maštruk, who stated that the fatal shot was not fired from the suspect's position.

Expert witnesses from Bosnia and Herzegovina claimed the opposite and provided evidence, rejecting the possibility that he was killed by a police officer because the bullet casing was from Geco Ammunition, whose bullet is steel. The bullet that hit Vedran Puljić is a yellow bullet containing 30 percent zinc and 70 percent copper.

It is clear that those responsible for Puljić's death will avoid prosecution in this way, and the Croatian judiciary has only sunk deeper with this.

This is not the only example where Croatia protects fugitives from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lejla Fazlagić, a former judge of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, evaded justice (the operation of the same name in which several people were arrested for organized crime in November 2016). She had received a tip that she was under special investigation and found refuge in Rijeka. Shortly before that, she had resigned from her position as a judge at her own request.

The Sarajevo Prosecutor's Office requested the extradition of Fazlagić to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the Ministry of Justice of Croatia has not yet made a decision. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia have signed an Extradition Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina from January 2014. The Ministry of the Republic of Croatia did not inform the judicial authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina about its decision. Given that the crime involved organized crime, the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina requested extradition from Croatia. The first-instance court rejected Fazlagić's appeal, and this was subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Court, fulfilling all legal prerequisites for extradition, but Croatia has not done so to date.

An interesting case is also with lawyer Faruk Balijagić, whom the Sarajevo Prosecutor's Office accused of incitement to commit criminal offenses, including murder. After the court revoked his detention order in early April 2016, he left Bosnia and Herzegovina and went to Croatia. Given that he also holds Croatian citizenship, Croatia refused to extradite him, and he will be tried in that country.

Another slap in the face from Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina is the decision from January 2017 not to prosecute fugitive Ante Jelavić, former president of HDZ BiH and member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who also holds Croatian citizenship. The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia stated in its letter that they refuse to provide legal assistance under the earlier Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, "because the act, in the opinion of the requested state, is a criminal offense of a political or military nature." Jelavić is accused of undermining military and defense capabilities, and abuse of office and authority in the Herceg Bosna case.

Jelavić fled Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2005 when the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced him to ten years in prison for the illegal purchase of shares of Hercegovačka Bank and Hercegovina Osiguranje with money from the Ministry of Defense of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the non-purposeful spending of that money. The Court of Appeals overturned the verdict a year later and returned the case for retrial. A warrant was issued for Jelavić, but he has been living peacefully in Zagreb for 12 years. Through his lawyer, he stated that he only recognizes the Croatian court.

The silence of the authorities can be interpreted as support for fugitives who have recognized Croatia, and now Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a safe haven for committed crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This also shows a lack of cooperation between the judicial bodies of the two countries.