Police release details: Murderer is a repeat offender, woman previously stayed in a Safe House

(Patria) - The Police Administration of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton has released details of yesterday's murder in Sarajevo in which E.M. was killed, while the attacker was found and apprehended several hours later. Their child was also found and handed over to the Social Work Center.

A citizen approached the Novi Grad Police Station, reporting that his employee E.M. had not shown up for work and was not answering her phone, expressing concern for her safety.

Police officers were immediately dispatched to the woman E.M.'s residence, Bosanska Street, in the Novi Grad municipality area, who, with the assistance of experts, opened the locked apartment door. Inside the apartment, a lifeless female body was found. A team from the Sarajevo Canton Institute for Emergency Medical Assistance arrived at the scene and pronounced the woman dead at 3:00 PM, identified as E.M., born in 1992.

The duty prosecutor of the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor's Office was informed of all the above by phone, arrived at the scene, and together with police officers from the Criminal Police Sector, and in the presence of a forensic medical expert, conducted an on-site investigation from 5:15 PM to 8:15 PM, after which the lifeless body of E.M. was transported to the Bare morgue by order of the duty prosecutor, where an autopsy will be performed.

Based on information gathered at the scene and interviews with several witnesses, it was learned that the victim E.M. resided in the said apartment with her child, whom she had in an extramarital union with a man identified as A.B., with whom she lived at an address on Aleja lipa Street, Novo Sarajevo municipality, until December 2022, when she was relocated by the Novo Sarajevo Social Protection Service, initially to a Safe House, and then to an apartment on Bosanska Street, Novi Grad Sarajevo municipality.

Further information indicated that A.B. resides in an apartment at the address on Aleja lipa Street, Novo Sarajevo municipality, and occasionally stays in the Centar Sarajevo municipality area. On November 13, 2023, due to reasonable suspicion that the criminal offense of Murder under Article 166 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been committed against E.M., with prior consent from the KTKS prosecutor, operational teams of police officers from the Police Support Sector and the Criminal Police Sector of the Police Administration of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton were formed, simultaneously covering both locations.

With an oral order obtained from the duty judge of the preliminary proceedings of the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo, a forced entry into the apartment on Aleja lipa Street, Novo Sarajevo municipality, was carried out at 6:40 PM. First, the child was found and evacuated – unharmed, examined by doctors, and taken over by officers of the Social Protection Service of the Cantonal Center for Social Work.

A man was found in the apartment, identified as A.B., who was armed with a pistol at the time, threatening to kill himself, while simultaneously demanding that police officers not approach him. Police officers from the Police Support Sector and the Criminal Police Sector, with the aim of protecting the life of A.B., protecting the lives of the police officers present, and ensuring the safety of citizens in the immediate and wider area, undertook all necessary criminal-tactical and operational measures and actions to bring the named individual under control and prevent him from carrying out his stated intention to use firearms, and negotiations began with the named individual to lay down his weapon. A mobile team from the Sarajevo Canton Institute for Emergency Medical Assistance was engaged at the scene to provide emergency medical aid.

The measures taken resulted at 7:55 PM in neutralizing the immediate threat of firearm use, where the weapon was safely taken from A.B., and he was brought under full control and deprived of his liberty after receiving medical assistance.

In order to investigate and document the said criminal offense, police officers from the Department for Blood, Sexual Delicts and War Crimes conducted a search of the apartment on Aleja lipa Street, Novo Sarajevo municipality, and the motor vehicle, a Volkswagen Golf model, used by the suspect, during which certain objects and traces were found that will be used in the further course of the criminal proceedings.

After the urgent evidentiary actions were carried out, the suspect A.B. was placed in the Detention Facilities for Persons Deprived of Liberty of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton, while further criminal processing of the same will continue in the official premises of the Police Administration of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton with the aim of documenting and investigating the said criminal offense.

Checks carried out in available databases for the firearm – a pistol, which was found on the suspect and temporarily confiscated on November 13, 2023, established that there was no search warrant issued for it, nor was the weapon registered on any basis.

Checks carried out in the Criminal and Operational records kept by the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton for the person A.B., born in 1989 in Sarajevo, established that the named individual is recorded as convicted for the criminal offense: under Article 222, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Domestic Violence, by a verdict of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo dated June 26, 2023, to a prison sentence of two months, while in the Operational records of the Ministry of Interior of Sarajevo Canton, he is recorded a total of seven times, for the criminal offense under Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Attack on an Official Person in the Performance of Security Duties, under Article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Endangering Security, under Article 239 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Possession and Enabling the Use of Narcotic Drugs, under Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Unauthorized Production and Placing on the Market of Narcotic Drugs, under Article 222 – Domestic Violence.

At the locally competent Police Stations Novo Sarajevo and Novi Grad, it was established that the Municipal Court in Sarajevo issued a Decision on December 15, 2022, imposing protective measures against the perpetrator A.B.:

1. Prohibition of approaching the victim of domestic violence, common-law wife E.M., at a distance of 500 meters, for a duration of 24 months,

2. Prohibition of stalking and harassing the person exposed to violence, for a duration of 24 months,

3. Mandatory psycho-social treatment for the violent person – A.B., for a duration of 6 months, all from the date of the Decision.

For the implementation of the ordered measures, the Court designated:

The Social Work Center of the Novo Sarajevo Municipality in cooperation with the Sarajevo Health Centers, RJ Novo Sarajevo, the Center for Mental Rehabilitation in the area where the perpetrator of violence has his residence.

Checks in the said Police Administrations established that the aforementioned Decision of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo was acted upon.

Police officers from the Department for Blood, Sexual Delicts and War Crimes continue to work on documenting the said criminal offense.