Advisor to BiH Consul Velid Hamidičević Illegally Issued Travel Documents, Earning 10,000 KM

The prosecutor of the Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crime and Corruption of the BiH Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against: Hamidičević Velid, born 09/29/1957 in Zavidovići, a citizen of BiH, employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH in the position of advisor for consular affairs at the BiH Embassy in Paris, reports the Patria News Agency.

The accused is charged with committing corrupt criminal offenses between December 2014 and June 2015, in his capacity as an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, by exploiting and abusing his official position for the purpose of acquiring financial gain.

He is accused of issuing BiH Travel Documents to individuals who did not meet the requirements for issuing BiH Travel Documents, without the regular procedure of data verification, often for individuals he knew did not have BiH citizenship, and he did not organize or manage the work process, nor did he conduct the affairs of the Consular Representation of BiH in accordance with the goals and interests of the service, nor in the interest of the state of BiH.

According to the evidence collected in more than thirty cases, the accused, in exchange for a financial compensation of varying amounts, mostly several hundred euros, enabled the issuance of Travel Documents to individuals, mostly of Roma nationality from BiH, for whom he was aware that they did not meet the necessary conditions for travel and stay in France, nor citizenship, nor the conditions for issuing the aforementioned documents.

These criminal offenses have caused great damage to the reputation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and have harmed the general security and immigration control in the Republic of France.

This indictment is the result of the work of a joint investigation team of BiH and France, within which significant cooperation was achieved with the prosecutor's office and partner institutions of the Republic of France. Investigators of the BiH Prosecutor's Office and SIPA, in order to collect evidence, also searched the diplomatic-consular mission of BiH in the Republic of France.

The accused Hamidičević is charged with acquiring financial gain in an amount exceeding 10,000 KM by exploiting his official position, authority, exceeding the limits of his official authority, or failing to perform his official duties.

The indictment is another indicator of the determination of the BiH Prosecutor's Office in the fight against corrupt acts, as well as abuse of official position.

The accused is charged with committing the prolonged criminal offense of abuse of position or authority under Article 220 of the Criminal Code of BiH. The indictment has been forwarded for confirmation to the BiH Court, it was announced from the BiH Prosecutor's Office.