Seven years of suspension: Cvijan collected 84,000 KM from SIPA, dismissal only after the verdict is final!

Bojan Cvijan, former head of the Drug Department at SIPA and former chief of criminal police of the CJB East Sarajevo, who was controversially sentenced to 20 years in prison in the Lutka case and immediately sent to custody, has been suspended from SIPA since September 1, 2009, when he was first arrested along with Darko Elez's criminal group as part of an investigation by the Special Prosecutor's Office of Serbia, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

Cvijan was taken into custody at the time but was released to defend himself from freedom. In the meantime, he continued to receive a salary from SIPA.

- In accordance with Article 113, Paragraph (1) of the Law on Police Officers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the appointee received 55% of his salary during the suspension - SIPA told Patria.

Given that Cvijan was suspended from his position as head of a department within SIPA, his salary with allowances amounted to more than 2,000 KM. This means that for the full seven years he was under investigation by judicial bodies and awaiting a court outcome, he received more than 1,000 KM per month. Over seven years, this amounts to an average of 84,000 KM.

According to the Law on Police Officers, a police officer's employment relationship ends, and they automatically lose their status as a police officer, in the event that they are sentenced to a prison term of six months or more for a criminal offense. This means that Cvijan will continue to receive a salary even while in prison, and his employment relationship with SIPA will only end after a final verdict is pronounced.

Operation Lutka: The most extensive organized crime case

SIPA and the Prosecutor's Office of BiH operational teams began working on the "Lutka" operation in mid-2011 in the utmost secrecy. The goal of the operation was to identify and prosecute perpetrators of the most serious criminal offenses and leaders of organized crime in Sarajevo, East Sarajevo, and across BiH. The suspects targeted by the operation formed a multi-ethnic criminal organization, with branches operating in both BiH entities.

In an extensive operation by SIPA in September 2012, 30 people were arrested, including Bojan Cvijan.

The Court of BiH issued a first-instance verdict for 13 individuals. A total of over 100 years in prison was imposed. This is the most extensive organized crime case ever prosecuted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and even in the region. Hundreds of material evidence items were submitted during the trial. The indictment was filed in 2013 and included 32 individuals, making it the largest indictment in an organized crime case ever prosecuted in the judiciary of BiH, and even the Western Balkan region. Among the 32 indicted, three were police officers, thus delivering a decisive blow to illegal conduct within police structures.

A total of six murders and attempted murders, which had remained unsolved for years, were shed light on in this case. These were committed in the style of mafia liquidations, through ambushes, so-called "waiting games," or remote detonation of explosive devices in the Sarajevo and East Sarajevo areas, which instilled fear and insecurity among citizens.

Overview of criminal offenses in the "Lutka" case

- The murder of Vladimir Mačar in Pale in January 2008, using an explosive device mounted on a previously stolen vehicle. Vladimir Mačar was killed in this incident, another person, Milan Vlaškić, died from fatal injuries, and a random passerby, Rade Magazin, was seriously injured and later died from his wounds, while several other people were injured.

- The murder of Boris Govedarica, committed in August 2007 near the shopping center in Lukavica. The murder was carried out by shooting the victim with an automatic weapon, specifically two submachine guns, with more than 15 bullets, which led to instant death. The murder was committed at an intersection on a busy street, posing a great danger to the safety of citizens.

- The murder of Zoran Golub in August 2008 in the "Sport" cafe in East Sarajevo. The individual was killed in the catering facility, where more than 40 bullets were fired at him from two submachine guns, which, in addition to the murder, posed a great danger to the lives of all present.

- A separate case against Mladen Ždrale concerned the triple murder in the Vraca settlement in November 2005, when Milorad Todorović, Radomir Janković, and Esad Šenderović were killed, and Murat Komarica was wounded. Mladen Ždrale was finally convicted of aiding and abetting this crime and sentenced to 15 years in prison. According to the collected evidence, the perpetrator of the murder was Boris Govedarica, who was killed in 2007 in East Sarajevo.

- The agreement, planning, and two attempted murders of Đorđe Ždrale, committed during 2006 in the East Sarajevo area, by shooting at Đorđe Ždrale, who was seriously wounded by multiple gunshots during the first attempted murder.

- The robbery of a money transport vehicle of Privredna banka Sarajevo, amounting to 2.2 million euros (approximately 4.4 million KM), which occurred in the Nedžarići settlement in Sarajevo in June 2006, when the vehicle transporting the money to the Airport was robbed.

- The robbery of a money transport vehicle of Pavlović International bank from Bijeljina, which occurred in August 2005 in the Han Pijesak area, by intercepting the vehicle transporting the money, from which approximately 1.8 million KM was stolen.

- An attempted robbery of money from Nova banka a.d. Bijeljina, East Sarajevo branch, in November 2005, amounting to approximately 2.2 million KM, when security guards transporting the money, after being shot at, used their weapons and wounded the robbers in the exchange of fire, after which the robbers fled towards Sarajevo.

- The robbery of approximately 670,000 KM from Post Office 2 in Sarajevo in June 2009, when money was stolen in an armed robbery, and the perpetrators fled in a van, which they later set on fire.

In addition to Cvijan, the Court of BiH sentenced Muhamed Ramić to eight years in prison, Ljubiša Lalović to five years and ten months, Marko Krajišnik to 18 years, Dejan Vukosavljević to four years, Nermin Tahirović to three years, Elvira Kajević to two years, Adnan Kajević to five years and ten months, Elvis Zlatić to three years, Dragan Obućina to eight years, Vladimir Parađina to eight years, Anes Kurbegović to 15 years, and Mladen Mičić to one year in prison. Dragan Jevtović, Mehmed Kajevići, and Benjamin Halilović were acquitted.

The court ordered the group to pay court costs as well as compensation to Privredna and Pavlović banks, and BH Pošta.