International arrest warrant issued for Zdravko Mamić

OSIJEK, (Patria) - After Zdravko Mamić was provisionally sentenced to six and a half years in prison last Wednesday, today the County Court officially issued an order to the police to issue an international arrest warrant and a European arrest warrant for him.

Given that Mamić is in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the only thing these warrants mean for him is a trip to the nearest police station, where he will only state whether he agrees to extradition to Croatia, Index reports.

Let us remind you, Mamić was provisionally sentenced to six and a half years in prison for embezzling money from Dinamo, and he fled to Bosnia and Herzegovina the day before. If he had been available to the Croatian police, he would have been immediately placed in pre-trial detention.

Very quickly after the verdict, the Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dragan Mektić, stated that the law is clear and stipulates that Mamić cannot be extradited to Croatia. However, he said, Mamić can serve his sentence in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He reminded that Croatia has the option to request Bosnia and Herzegovina to accept and implement its court verdict, as has happened in the past, for example, in the case of Branimir Glavaš.

In such situations, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is competent, which formally reviews the verdict issued in another country and issues an order for its execution.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has, as a rule, confirmed such verdicts without modifications so far, although it theoretically has the option to reduce the imposed sentence.